


New Instincts

by FearlessFreep



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Mystery, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2020-10-13 14:48:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 54,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20584268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FearlessFreep/pseuds/FearlessFreep
Summary: Zootopia has a new drug. The mayor has a new opponent. Nick and Judy have new feelings. What instincts do you trust when everything around you is changing?





	1. Chapter 1

A year ago, if someone had told Nick Wilde he was going to be chasing a black bear down the streets of Zootopia, he might not have questioned it. Maybe the black bear owed him money.

If someone had told him he'd be chasing that black bear down the street because the bear was resisting arrest, Nick might have laughed and asked why he was helping out the fuzz.

If someone had told him that he now _was _the fuzz, and he was luring that black bear into a trap so his partner could take the black bear down, now he might have been concerned for this mammal's sanity.

If that someone told him his partner was a bunny…. well.

The bear threw a trash down behind him, directly into Nick's path. He dodged it without breaking stride, using an alley wall to scamper around it. Agility had been no sweat at the academy, after all. Fighting big nasty criminals? Well… he had a partner to do his dirty work.

Nick whipped out his radio. "Comin' in hot, Carrots," he huffed as he ran.

The incoming transmission beeped back at him. _"In position, Slick,"_ came a familiar voice, tinny from the reception.

Nick smirked. "Time to go in for the kill," he muttered to himself. He'd been herding the bear in a loop for the last ten minutes, and it was having the desired effect: he tell by the staggering in the bear's run that he was starting to run out of steam. A tired bear was a good bear.

Picking up speed, Nick switched to all fours, ducking and darting around dumpsters and light poles, heading the bear off before he could make a left down the next alley. Seeing Nick, the bear scrambled in place, then barreled to the right instead.

"Bingo," Nick hissed, then switched to his radio. "Ready Carrots?"

"_Born ready!"_

Nick rolled his eyes at her perpetual overenthusiasm, but smiled anyway. "Ok, coming in in three… two… one…"

The bear broke out of the alley and onto a side street, where there was a police cruiser waiting. Before he could process this, Officer Judy Hopps had leapt into the air, grabbing a light pole and swinging around it, gaining momentum, before launching into a flying kick straight for the bear's muzzle.

Her foot connected with the bear with a solid _SWACK! _The bear grunted before he toppled to the ground, spread eagle, out cold. Judy landed neatly at his feet with a tiny bounce as Nick joined her side, breathing hard.

"Nice one," he wheezed, his hands on his knees. "If Mr. Big ever needs new muscle, I know a bunny he can call."

"Only if he'll hire a fox to run the heavies ragged first," she said, and held up her paw for a high five that Nick weakly returned. "Help me roll him so we can get some cuffs on this guy."

Throwing their combined weight into it, Nick and Judy heaved the bear onto his stomach. As Nick clicked his huge paws into handcuffs, Judy searched the bear's jacket pockets.

"Uh huh, that's what I thought," she said as she pulled out a tiny plastic bag filled with powder. The bear stirred beneath them, blinking dully. Judy placed her hands on her hips and straightened her ears, making herself look as big as possible. She gave him a tiny nudge with her foot until the bear raised his eyes to her. "You sir are under arrest for possession and resisting arrest. You have the right to remain silent…"

Nick watched his partner of the past year, smirking at the way she managed to make her tiny frame look imposing. It was exceptionally cute, though he could never tell her that (at least not while they were on duty, anyway). All wide eyes and a maniacal sense of justice, her energy was a physical thing that practically vibrated out of her.

" – If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be presented to you – "

The bear switched his gaze from Judy to Nick. He blinked again, his eyes coming into focus. "That you, Wilde?"

"That's Officer Wilde to you, buddy boy," Nick replied cheerily.

"Heard a rumor you went pig on us, guess I had to see it for myself to believe it," the bear rasped with a sneer.

Judy glanced hesitantly at Nick, who smiled benignly at the bear with hooded eyes. "Fox, not pig. There's a difference. Red fur, bushy tail… didn't they teach you that at the last correctional facility you were at? Ah well, guess you can take another lesson in prison. Never too late, right?"

The bear growled much to Nick's satisfaction. With a considerable amount of grunting and cursing, Nick hauled the bear to his feet and forced him into the cruiser. He winked at the bear before Judy slammed the door shut.

"Way to not let them get to you, Slick," Judy said, and the warmth in her voice washed away the distant sting the bear's remark had caused. She bounced up to give him a fist bump and his eyes caught the bag of powder still clutched in her paw. "Now when we get back to the precinct, I think we should file this guy's report before we tackle – "

"Whoa whoa whoa, Carrots… lemme see that for second…"

Judy looked at him curiously but handed him the bag. Nick held it up muzzle level. It was a dark blue powder, unlike any drug he'd seen since he'd entered the ZPD. Or before he'd entered, for that matter. It unsettled him – they already had their paws full with known drugs, let alone new ones. Frowning, he gave it a cautious sniff. It had an unexpectedly pleasant aroma.

"What's up? Don't recognize it?" Judy asked.

"Nope," Nick said as he pulled out his phone. He snapped a picture of it before handing it back to her.

"Did you get a good look at the guy who sold it to him?"

"No, he bounced before I was halfway out of the cruiser. Guess we'll have to take this stuff back to forensics. Though we could cut out the middle man and give it a shot right here, Carrots. You know, for research purposes."

Judy rolled her eyes. "Oh har har…"

"C'mon, it would save us a lot of time, plus I'm betting it would be a lot more fun. "

Judy pointed the cruiser keys at him, smirking. "You know, right now you're everything my parents worried about when I moved to Zootopia: a shifty fox pushing street drugs on their little, innocent bunny."

He snorted as he joined her in the cruiser. "_Innocent._ Sure. I just saw you karate chop a doped up street punk in the head. I'm the one they should be worried about."

"Just admit it: you were impressed," she sighed with self-satisfaction.

"It may or may not have been something straight out of a Clawed Van Damme movie," Nick conceded as she pulled onto the main road. "Which is exactly why I'm going to put my foot down and not allow you experiment with whatever this is. If it's uppers, that's the last thing little miss Energizer Bunny here needs. Trust me."

"You say that like you know a thing or two about it," she said. He didn't even need to look at her to know she was grinning.

"Eh, the only two things I know are that I tried something like that once and that it was enough for this fox," he said, putting his feet on the dash. "All I remember is Finnick and some of our friends passing it around, and the next thing I know I'm running stark naked through Tundratown singing 'I Am The Walrus' at the top of my lungs."

Judy let out a shriek of laughter that sent a thrill through Nick, even if it was at his expense. "Then what happened?" she managed to choke out between giggles.

Nick shook his head. "Sorry officer, that's classified." But then, noticing her giggles were subsiding, he found himself continuing, "All I'll say is it may have involved scandalized polar bear mothers calling ZPD, who may have tackled me into some frozen bushes, and may have resulted in a permanent mark somewhere on my body where the sun don't shine."

His humiliation was rewarded with a fresh round of laughter. Nick watched shamelessly as Judy slapped the steering wheel with hysterics, unable to stop the smile spreading across his face, and made a mental note to search his memory for a few more embarrassing stories to tell her. Whatever it took to get her to laugh like that again.

As her giggles dwindled down to hiccups, Nick turned to the road again. "Man, I wonder what Finnick and those guys are up to. I haven't talked to them since… well… "

He trailed off, frowning. Judy's laugh-drunk grin disappeared from her face as she glanced at him. "Since you joined the force," she supplied softly.

"Yeah," Nick said, only realizing it in that moment. Without meaning to he lapsed into silence, wondering what they'd been up to all this time, and yet also not entirely sure if he really wanted to know anyway.

"Nick - " Judy began, but Nick waved an airy paw as he slung his aviators over his eyes.

"Doesn't matter. I traded those guys in for my very own Carrots, and now I get to hang around an annoying gray ball of fluff every day. There's a bargain if I ever saw one, huh?"

The smile returned to her face, and his afternoon brightened again. "You know you love me," she chirped.

"Do I know that?" Nick paused for effect. "Depends on the day."

"Nick!" she cried before reluctantly releasing another laugh. Nick linked his paws behind his head, drinking it in.

* * *

Back at the precinct, they wound their way to their office, with Nick offering Judy a multitude of increasingly wild favors to get out of paperwork, ranging from attempting to bake her a carrot cake that said 'Officer Toot Toot' on it to a full on puppet show reenactment of the missing mammals case. Judy turned them all down with as much dignity as she could muster while attempting to hide her amusement.

"I'm telling you Fluff, you're missing out on a real show," he insisted as they walked down the hall. "the Bogo puppet alone would be worth at least a month's worth of – "

"The Bogo _what_?" boomed an unmistakable voice.

Nick froze midstep, realizing with dread a certain cape buffalo's office they'd happened to walk by precisely as he'd said that. A certain cape buffalo who had also happened to step out of said office at that same moment.

"Chief Bogo, sir!" Judy saluted. She shot a devilish look at Nick before continuing, "Office Wilde was referring to his p – "

"P-_roper _and overwhelming amount of respect for you, sir!" Nick jumped in, covering Judy's mouth (and the entire rest of her face) with his paw and playfully pushing her out of the way. She swatted at him but he held her out of reach with his arm.

"Save it, Wilde," Bogo grumbled, glaring down at the fox. "You're been out all afternoon. What's the status, Hopps?"

Judy spun out of Nick's grasp and elbowed him out of the way. "Two perps selling what appears to be narcotics, sir. One suspect in custody, one still at large. Nick and I recovered evidence at the scene sir, but we can't identify it. We're on our way to forensics now."

She produced the evidence bag just as a white, Arctic wolf strolled out of the break room. His ears perked with interest.

"Well well, that looks new," Grizzoli said, tilting his head at the strange drug.

"Whatever," Bogo said impatiently, "Get it down to forensics now. They're backed up enough as it is, and so are we. Do your paperwork and get ready for tomorrow, I've got enough caseloads for two precincts."

"Yes sir!" Judy cried, her and Nick saluting. As Bogo turned to go, Grizzoli extended a paw. "Give it to me Hopps, I'm heading to forensics now. Save you a trip."

Judy waved him off. "Oh I don't mind, really, Nick and I – "

"Listen, I already heard Clawhauser bragging about you kicking that bear from here to the Rainforest District. Take a load off. You've earned it, Short Stuff."

Nick's ears flicked downward, his eyes darting between Grizzoli's cool façade and Judy's surprised smile. _Short Stuff? _He was a solid 99% sure that he, Nick, was the only one allowed to toss around demeaning but secretly endearing nicknames for Carrots, for Fluff, for Officer Toot Toot, for Cottontail…

"I think we can handle a walk down the hall – " Nick started, but Judy jumped in.

"_Thank you_, Grizz_,_" she said with a pointed look at Nick as she handed over the evidence bag, "We really appreciate it."

Grizzoli plucked it out of her hands and shot her a finger gun motion. Nick rolled his eyes without discretion, drawing a smirk out of Grizzoli.

"No problem," Grizzoli said. "You know, a bunch of us are headed to the Hair of the Dog for drinks after our shift. You should join us."

Judy beamed at him as Grizzoli thudded Nick on the back with enough force to jolt him forward. He snickered. "You can tag along too, Wilde."

"We'll see you there, thanks again!" Judy called to his back as Grizzoli made his way down the hall. Though the second he was out of earshot, she whipped around to face Nick, her ears missing him by an inch, the beaming grin replaced with a reproachful scowl. "What's got your tail in a knot?"

"Moi?" Nick asked, gesturing innocently to himself.

"Grizzoli was nice enough to take _our _evidence from _our _case down to forensics, _and _invited us out, and you acted like he just coughed up a fur ball in your lap. What gives?"

"Nothing gives," Nick said, turning to pour himself some coffee. Mostly so he didn't have to look her in the eye when he was dodging the truth. "'_Tag along…' _He just… he's just sucking up to Bogo, he wants that detective spot that opened up."

"So, doesn't everyone? That's no reason to be nasty to him."

"But it is _a _reason."

"There has to be real reason."

"Does there?"

"Yes!"

"What's wrong with a little unsolved mystery?"

"We're cops! We hate unsolved mysteries! Why does he bother you?"

Nick threw his head back dramatically. "I don't know, because… because – "

_Because he was flirting with you._

The thought came into his mind without warning, so much so that he nearly dropped his coffee. It was as though a stranger had whispered it in his ear.

He could only offer Judy a blank stare, which she thankfully interpreted as him stalling. Crossing her arms, she said quietly so that Fangmeyer, who was watching television nearby in the break room, could not hear, "You know, it wouldn't kill you to be a bit nicer to Grizzoli, or anybody else here, for that matter. I know you miss having friends."

This was one of the few things that could knock him out of his mental tailspin. "Come again?" he asked, shaking his head to recalibrate.

"I saw that look on your face when you were talking about Finnick. You miss having fun with the guys, I know you do. I know you can't have… _that _kind of fun anymore, but maybe if you made a few pals around here you could do, you know, whatever it is that guys do when they're not at work."

"I don't need more friends, I've got you," Nick shot back, leaning in so they were almost nose to nose in order to throw her off. "And considering being friends with you has me nearly getting bit, shot, or dismembered on a daily basis, you're about all the friend I can handle right now."

She scoffed and used one small finger to push him back by his nose. "Flattered as I am, you can't tell me that running around Zootopia and watching terrible movies with me at your apartment almost every night is what you dreamt of for your social life."

"Who says it isn't?" Nick said, fixing her with a hooded stare. "Besides, I do have other friends who aren't you. How about, uh…" he gazed about the room until his eyes rested on someone. "Fangmeyer here! Hey Fangmeyer, we're chums, right?"

Fangmeyer spared him one bored look before turning back to the television without a word.

"See, what I'd tell ya Carrots? Fangmeyer and me, we're such good friends we don't even need words to communicate," Nick cooed, marching over to Fangmeyer. "Watcha watchin' there, best friend?"

He took care to stop before he was in punching distance from the powerful tigress. She had a steely reputation, the kind where she didn't need to raise her voice to inspire fear in her opponents. Even Grizzoli and Delgato, her frequent partners, avoided crossing her.

"Shut up, Wilde, I want to hear this," Fangmeyer said, her voice as silky and flat as always, not bothering to spare him a glance this time.

Nick and Judy turned to the television, where a rather regal looking antelope in a smart suit was being interviewed by news anchor Fabienne Growley. Though, upon second glance, Nick wasn't entirely sure she was an antelope… she certainly looked like one, with the slim build and the horns… but she also stripes that looked remarkably like a zebra's.

"That's Gwen Reedbuck, " Judy said, joining his side. She seemed to have guessed that he had not been paying attention to the news lately. Or ever. "She's running against Lionheart for mayor."

"It's fair to say that Mayor Lionheart is pretty beloved in Zootopia," Growley said, facing down Reedbuck, "What advantage do you believe you have to overtake him in the race?"

"I don't believe I have an advantage," the antelope replied smoothly. "I believe I have conviction, and a drive to do what is right. Which Mayor Lionheart has as well, I assure you. The key difference is that I will follow through on my promises. There will be no lip service here."

"And what promise is that, Gwen?" Growley asked, intrigue working its way onto her features.

Gwen regarded her calmly. "Why, if elected, I promise to promote equal rights for interspecies couples in the Zootopia districts."


	2. Chapter 2

"Legalize interspecies marriage?" Wolford asked.

Fangmeyer shrugged and sipped her drink. "She said equal rights. Same species can get married. You want that detective job or not?"

Grizzoli let out a bark of laughter, and a few of the other officers laughed along with him. Judy watched them from her end of the booth, smiling slightly but not joining in. She noticed that Nick, who was sitting next to her, did not either. She dragged her carrot cocktail closer and took another sip.

Their precinct took up an entire corner of Hair of the Dog. It was certainly a cop bar – Nick had told her he'd never dreamed of even going near it before he entered the ZPD – and she was pretty sure she spotted a few officers from other precincts mingling about. Mostly larger mammals like hers, though she was pretty sure she had seen a coyote in uniform playing pool earlier. This had encouraged her; after she and Nick had entered the ZPD, she had been – naively, she realized later – expecting a slew of minority mammals to enter the academy as well. So far she'd been disappointed.

"She can't expect mammals to go for that. Is she _trying_ to throw the race?" Grizzoli asked.

Francine, who took up most of the other end of the booth on her own, raised her trunk and piped up, "Not so fast, Grizz – I heard her poll numbers jumped after that interview."

"How'd she manage that?" Snarlov asked.

"Younger voters. Progressive ones. Mammals ready for a change," Fangmeyer said.

"Interspecies relationships are pretty normal you know, they've just been marginalized," Judy piped up, "Ever since the missing mammals case there's been a lot more visibility – "

"Yeah yeah yeah Hopps we get, you saved the city, yakety yak," Delgato said, waving a giant paw. "But be honest, who here has dated a different species? Anyone?"

Francine rolled her eyes. "Oh sure, side with the _lion – _"

"Don't avoid the question, you just don't want to admit that no one here is as _progressive_ as you want them to be," Delgato pressed. "Really, anyone here? How about you Grizz?"

Grizzoli smiled serenely and shook his head, as did Wolford and Snarlov.

"How about you, Hopps?"

Judy shrugged good-naturedly. "Sorry. Just bunnies."

Grizzoli looked over her head. "And you, Wilde? You've been quiet – something I don't think any of us get to say that much. Any strange bedfellows?"

Nick leaned back, dropping his arm across the seat in back of Judy. "Just your sister Grizz, but don't tell her I told you."

Grizzoli shouted something that Judy could only assume would make Mr. Big blush, but it was drowned out by the raucous laughter from the other officers. Even Fangmeyer, who Judy was pretty sure had never expressed any emotion outside of bored, annoyed, or pissed off, cracked the barest of smiles. Well, maybe "smile" was generous. Judy was pretty sure one of the corners of Fangmeyer's mouth twitched in an upward direction, at least.

As Grizzoli fended off a fresh round of insults (Wolford was currently asking for his sister's number, much to Grizzoli's displeasure), Judy turned to Nick with a grin and elbowed him gently in the ribs.

"I can't say that contributed to operation 'Make Friends with Grizzoli,' but at least you made the others laugh," she said.

"I'm here all week," Nick said after another sip of his whiskey. "Why do you want me to be friends with Grizzoli anyway?"

Judy shrugged. "I dunno, I just thought it would be easier to start with him."

"Easier? Why, because we're both _canines?_" Nick drawled, "That's rather speciest of you, Hopps. I expected better from you."

"It's only speciest if it doesn't work."

"Bending the rules to suit your needs again, I see."

"Come on. Wouldn't you, I don't know, have some stuff in common?"

"Oh sure, sure," Nick said as he began ticking off his fingers, "we both have noses, we both have tails, we both have ears, we both have brains – wait, scratch that last one, not sure if ol' Grizz has one of those or not."

Judy perched her chin on her fist and raised a brow at him. "Both a bit full of yourselves, both good at picking on the bunny, both a little bit annoying – "

"So you _do_ think he's a little bit annoying!" Nick cried triumphantly.

Judy laughed and rolled her eyes. "No comment."

They both drank some more as they lapsed into comfortable silence. Judy watched the other officers bicker – somehow Snarlov and Francine had gotten into an arm and trunk wrestling match – though when she shot a glance at Nick from the corner of her eye she noticed he looked markedly more cheerful. Pleased that he seemed to be enjoying himself at social event for once, she finished her cocktail and waved her hand for another. She was feeling good, and Hair of the Dog made a darn good carrot cocktail.

"So…" Nick said, watching the bartender drop off her drink. "No dating outside the faith for you, Carrots?"

Judy took another gulp – this drink seemed to be going down much faster than the first one for some reason. "I said I haven't, I didn't say I wouldn't."

Nick's ears flicked up straight. "Oh?" He too waved the bartender for another drink.

Judy paused, enjoying the rare moment where she managed to catch Nick off guard. "Well, yeah. After everything that happened with the missing mammals case, I think it would be pretty hypocritical of me to only date bunnies, don't you think?"

Nick had nearly finished half his drink before it even touched the table. "Can't argue with you there."

"Plus, let's face it, it's not like I'm going to be meeting any bunnies at work anytime soon, I might as well widen the net," she said with a slightly bitter laugh.

"I wouldn't give up hope just yet, I met a bunny at work and she's a catch," Nick said, "Has too much energy in the morning and is a bit of a Pollyanna, but hey, who doesn't like a project?"

Judy tried to scowl but failed, so she settled on giving him a punch in the shoulder. Nick retaliated by flicking her ear, and they both had more to drink. Judy's current cocktail was making her feel pleasantly warm and she was not at all mad about it.

Nick watched her. "But whatever would Ma and Pa Hopps have to say if you brought home a mammal who didn't fit in their house?"

Judy laughed – much more loudly than she thought she would have done if she wasn't a few cocktails deep. "Cheese and crackers… they might just be happy that I settled down _at all_. I think they've given up on me and have moved on to setting up some of my siblings at this point."

Next to her shoulder Nick's claw was tapping an irregular rhythm against her chair. He seemed so focused on her, so interested in what she was saying – not to mention that cocktail seemed to have a knack for getting her to say things she'd never thought she'd say out loud – that she felt compelled to continue, "They should, if I'm being honest. I spent my whole life trying to get into the ZPD. Now I'm here, and I love it, but sometimes it feels like there's no time for anything or anyone else."

She went to sip more of her drink only to realize it was empty. She had half a mind to signal for another one when she looked at Nick. He seemed very interested in his whiskey glass all of the sudden. When he finally spoke, he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "So… you don't really see yourself as the dating type?"

Judy thought about it for a moment. "I wouldn't say that. Guess if the right guy came along… " She looked at him and narrowed her eyes. "This is a two way street, you know. What about you, Slick? What type are you?"

"I… think I've had too many of these, that's what I think," Nick said, pointing at his glass. Then he finished it off with a shrug.

Judy giggled, and he turned his attention on her once more. She wanted to say that he looked nervous, as if he was steeling himself, but he was unreadable to her as ever, even after working together for a year. At last, he took a breath and began, "Hey, Carrots… Judy… do you want to go somewhere quieter and talk – "

But he never got to finish, because at that moment Clawhauser burst over to their booth, shrieked, "Shots!" and slammed sloshing shots of tequila onto the table.

* * *

It was nearly midnight before they'd left the bar. Judy darted down the sidewalk, feeling absolutely giddy from her ears to her toes. "C'mon Nick, you should hop! Hopping is the _best_!"

Nick followed her in a definitive non-hop. "Yeah, right until you hop into traffic - watch it there, bunny!"

Laughing, Judy hopped off of the road and back onto the sidewalk, ignoring the blaring horn of a passing car. "Whoops!" she chirped, hopping back to Nick, hoping he would join her.

Nick laughed and mimed talking into his radio, "This is Officer Wilde, I'm responding to reports of a very drunk bunny running wild outside of Savanna Central. Requesting permission to use force, over."

Judy pointed at him and one of her ears flopped over her eye. "So? You're drunk too!"

Nick opened his mouth to retort, then paused to think. "Guess I can't argue the truth."

This struck Judy as hilarious and she broke out into a fresh round of giggles. Nick rolled his eyes but began laughing himself, and between his twinkling eyes and the lamplight, Judy decided that he looked positively electric.

"You're cute when you laugh," she said. She pushed the ear out of her face but it simply flopped right back.

For a moment Nick's face lit up, but then he frowned just as suddenly. "Hey, how is it that it's okay for you to call me cute and not the other way around?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out!" she called back, already laughing and sprinting down the street. She could hear Nick's calls for her to slow down, but she didn't want to - she just felt so _good_. But then, realizing where she was, she skidded to a stop. Nick followed moments later, gasping for breath.

"Cool it Carrots or I'm slapping you with public intoxication - "

"This is my apartment!" she cried, pointing at the building in front of them.

Judy spun around to show him but tripped instead. She stumbled into Nick's side and he caught her around the waist before she fell. Her head swam, and for a moment she thought she might pass out, but the moment passed and she felt elated again. Her legs still felt like liquid though and she noticed she was fully leaning on Nick for support. She meant to give him a slight nudge with her head to show her gratitude, but all she really managed was an inelegant face plant directly into his chest.

"Alright there, Officer Hopps?"

She felt the rumble of his words in his chest. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "You smell _sooo_ good," she cooed, her voice muffled by his shirt. "Like dirt and spices and... and whiskey, definitely whiskey."

"You couldn't smell more like a carrot cocktail than if you were one yourself, sweetheart," she heard him say.

She laughed, which made him laugh, and her face bounced in rhythm with his chest, making her dizzy again. His paws were on her lower back, holding her up and pressing her flush against him. They felt gigantic compared to her small frame, but also wonderful and warm and safe and suddenly she was saying, "Just sleep at my place tonight!"

The paw at her back tensed. "I don't know, Carrots - "

"Oh c'mon, you can't go home like this, I can barely walk!" She dimly that she didn't totally make sense.

"That's why subways were invented – yo!" Nick started, but Judy grabbed his paw with both of hers and dragged him bodily up the stairs.

Nick gasped, "You've got drunk strength, did you know that? We should get a few cocktails in you every time we're in pursuit."

"That is a great idea!" Judy giggled. They were now down the hall and at her door. It took her three tries to get her keys in the lock, though it didn't help that Nick was making fun of her and making her laugh the entire time. At last they stumbled inside.

"Well, here it is!" Judy cried triumphantly. "Whaddaya think?"

Nick looked around the entire apartment, which took approximately three seconds. "Yikes."

"Hey!" she said, swatting him in the stomach. She threw her keys to the counter and missed by a mile. She ducked to pick them up, but another wave a dizziness crashed over her. Staggering again, she briefly noted Nick's paw at her elbow, steadying her, before she regained her composure and dragged him further inside.

"You can have the bed," Judy slurred, unclipping her belt and dumping it on the floor with a clunk.

Nick gestured to her bed, which looked like it was for a kit compared to him. "That's very chivalrous of you, but look at that thing. That's not a bed, that's a glorified foot rest."

"It is _too_ a bed!" Judy protested. "Watch, I fit perfectly!" She threw out her arms and flopped backwards, collapsing onto her bed. She bounced on the mattress once, and by the time she bounced again, she was fast asleep.

* * *

The beeping of her alarm clock may as well have been a sledgehammer to her skull. Groaning, Judy reached out and slapped it quiet. She found it was difficult to open her eyes past a squint. Everything was much too bright. Her mouth was way too dry. And her head -

Oh, her head. A headache like she'd never known seemed to crash down around her. She collapsed back into bed and shut her eyes, riding it out and willing the pain to pass. After a few minutes of this, she realized there was a noise coming from beneath her bed. Something that sounded like snoring. Confused, she peered over the edge of her bed.

Nick was curled up on the floor at an awkward angle, arms akimbo and still in his uniform, snoring soundly. She couldn't see his face, mostly because it was smashed muzzle-down against the floor, surrounded by a small puddle of drool. Reeling, she tried to remember how he'd gotten here... she leaing the bar with him, but everything after that was a blur. Had she been so drunk he'd needed to carry her?

She leaned down to poke him but that turned out to be a terrible idea. A blinding wave of pain shot through her skull and she fell back, groaning. Taking a minute to gather herself, she stuck a long foot out and prodded him in the back with her toe.

"Nick?" Nothing. "Nick?" More snoring. "NICK!"

She shrieked as Nick jumped into the air like a loaded spring. "Huh? What? I didn't do it!" he blurted, looking around wildly. He noticed Judy and quieted. He blinked and looked around again, much more slowly this time, taking in where he was. He turned back to her. "How… how much did we drink?"

"Too much," Judy groaned, rubbing the base of her drooping ears.

"You," he said, pointing a claw at her, "are hungover."

"Great observation. How are you not?"

He shrugged. "Not all of us are lightweights." When she glared at him he added, "We should get you a coffee. Trust me, it'll help."

"Then we'd better get moving, we actually have to go to work in this state."

Sitting up, Nick looked down at himself, once more at the apartment, and then back to her. He had an odd expression on his face, and with a sinking feeling Judy realized that he probably could remember the events from last night, and he was probably remembering them right now. Judging by the look he was giving her, whatever she had done or said must not have been very good. The fact that he must know and she did not made her feel suddenly very anxious, and a wall of awkwardness that had never existed between them before seemed to have risen up out of nowhere.

They both jumped to their feet at the same time. In Judy's box of an apartment, this meant that they were standing nearly toe to toe. It struck her how tiny her apartment truly was, and that he was probably the first predator to ever step foot in this building. Her face now inches from his chest, Judy caught a whiff of that same warm, earthy smell and - _oh god_, memories from last night came flooding back to her and _why_ did she do that and _why_ did she say that to him?

Panicked, her eyes darted up to his and he must have seen everything play out on her face because he was looking at her differently now. There was no sarcasm or pretense, just uncertainty and wariness and something else she couldn't place. His fur was stuck up in funny places and his uniform was wrinkled and bunched on one side, it made him look vulnerable and she knew she must look the same. She opened her mouth to say something, but what was she going to say? Sorry? Let's pretend like this never happened? Please don't let this make everything weird now?

Nick's eyes searched hers for a moment more before they softened. The hooded stare came back, and a sly smile that was so very him slid comfortably back on his muzzle. "Alright Carrots, let's just lay it all out there. Hate to break it to you but your master plan to get me drunk and take advantage of me didn't work. Better luck next time."

A laugh finally broke free from Judy and the tension dissipated from the room. She beamed up at him gratefully, the morning sun peeking in, both of them a disheveled mess. He smirked down at her and asked, "So... we good, Carrots?"

"We're good," she replied, and chipped him affectionately on the elbow with her fist. The tiny movement sent another pulse of agony between her eyes and she groaned. "Well, I'm not good, but we're good."

Nick snorted and turned for the door. "C'mon, let's get you that coffee."

"Seriously, how are you not dying right now?" Judy groaned.

"Years of practice. Plus it doesn't hurt that I'm twice your size. You know, speaking of, we need to talk about the size of this apartment, Fluff. I don't know how you think you're going to snag a respectable bunny beau with this place," Nick chided, looking over his shoulder at her as he opened the door, "There's barely enough room for you in here, let alone for a handsome buck and the legion of kits your parents are desperate for - speak of the devil!"

The last thing he said came out in an unnaturally high-pitched squeak. Judy, who had been wearily rubbing her eyes, had not noticed that Nick had stopped dead. She walked directly into him, causing another throb. Grumbling, she clutched her head and snapped, "Nick, what gives - "

"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Hopps!" Nick cried in the same falsetto.

Judy felt herself pale beneath her fur. Her head throbbed wildly as her stomach seemed to drop somewhere around her feet. Slowly, she peeked around Nick. There, in her doorway, were her parents, both looking shell-shocked and giving her a sheepish wave.


	3. Chapter 3

Nick watched the three rabbits ahead of him. Judy leading the way to the subway, doggedly not looking at her parents, who trailed slightly behind her. The whole situation would be pretty funny if he didn't feel like he was the source of the problem. He had never met Judy's parents before this, so it was difficult to gage if the reason for the discomfort was because he was a fox, or simply the utter horror of walking in on their daughter with a guy, regardless of whether anything had been going on or not.

No one had seemed to want to make eye contact when they'd left the apartment building. After Judy's initial frantic babbling about "oversleeping" and "it's not what it looks like" she had gone relatively quiet. Her parents had offered a few uneasy laughs, but had since remained huddled together as if they were waiting for more male predators to start parading from their daughter's bedroom.

For his part, Nick was determined to bury last night in the past. Joining the ZPD had not done wonders for his social circle. Considering that most of his friends, if he could call them that, had been fellow con artists and mammals that operated at various levels of illegal, most of them had been radio silent the moment he started at the academy. Judy was all he had left, and he would be damned if he let one too many cocktails ruin that too.

Why didn't he just walk home last night? Why did he turn to putty the second she dragged him up the stairs? Why did he do _so many _tequila shots with Clawhauser? Why –

"Why it's really nice to finally meet you, Nick," Bonnie said as they made their way onto the platform. She looked strained from the sheer awkwardness of it all, but at least seemed to be trying. "Our Bun Bun here has told us so much about you."

"The pleasure is all mine, Mrs. Hopps. I only wish Bun Bun would've _told _me_ you were coming_," Nick said, emphasizing the last part with a pointed look at Judy.

Judy glared at him from behind her parents. "_I forgot,"_ she mouthed at him. He was going to say more, but she looked so miserable between her bloodshot eyes and wrinkled uniform – not to mention he felt partly responsible for not stopping her from trying to match him shot for shot – that he let it go.

Bonnie continued, "Well, we were headed into the city for an appointment, and made plans to get breakfast together before you two needed to head to work. We just, we didn't know you two were, well…"

Judy slapped a hand on her face. "Ugh, I told you Mom, that's not what – "

But Bonnie was spared having to finish that sentence by Stu, who leapt in front of her to face Nick. "And I would just like to say Nick, that we have absolutely no problem with foxes, no sir. We do business with a fox, Nick, his name is Gideon, he sells pies, and we do business with him because he makes a fine pie, him being a fox is neither here nor there, Nick – "

"Dad, _stop,_" Judy begged, mortified.

They stepped onto their train, Judy guiding her parents and showing them where to hold the handrails as she did the same. It was only now that Nick remembered that lately Judy had been using _him _as a handrail when the rode the train, usually bracing herself on his leg or gently hanging on his shirt sleeve. He wondered why he'd never taken much note of it before, and why it made him feel oddly lonely now that she wasn't doing it.

"Look guys, I'm really sorry," Judy said, facing her parents at last. "I shouldn't have stood you up for breakfast, you came all the way out here and it just slipped my mind –"

"Oh don't you worry about a thing, Carrot Cake," Stu said warmly. "It happens to the best of us. What with both of you working so hard and all, oversleeping is bound to happen at some point. Just, just make sure you're getting, you know… enough sleep…" Stu finished, eyes flickering toward Nick. Judy tugged her ears over her face.

"So what brings you to the city on a Friday morning, Stu?" Nick asked, changing the subject. Judy could thank him later.

Stu puffed out his chest. "Important government stuff. Top secret."

When both Judy and Nick looked at Stu like he'd grown an extra ear, Bonnie rolled her eyes and explained, "We need to sign our approval forms for the new batch of Night Howlers."

"Keep it down Bon, Lionheart told us to keep it quiet!" Stu hissed, then leaned in conspiratorially. "They really cracked down on growing new Night Howlers after they'd been put to ill use by that Bellwether woman last year. But we need them for the farm, you know? Especially with the Carrot Days Festival coming up and all. So if you want to grow any more, you have to put in a formal request with the mayor. Once he approves it, you gotta sign all these forms, and you have to report who's growing 'em, who's harvesting 'em, what they're doing with 'em - "

"We have to report anything funny to the ZPD, so you may be getting some official phone calls from us, Bun Bun!" Bonnie added.

The subway bell overheard signaled the City Central stop. "This is us," Nick said, reaching down to keep both parents on their feet as they stumbled with the change of momentum.

"Oh, thank you Nick, I'll never get used to this thing," Bonnie said, positively clutching his arm for support. Judy beamed at him, which was probably the only time she'd smiled all morning.

Judy gave her parents directions for the mayor's office before they hugged and said their goodbyes.

"We'll tell the mayor you say hello!" Stu crowed to his daughter. "Not that we need to, right Jude? What with you and him on all these recruitment posters all over the place, you two must be on a first name basis! Speaking of the mayor, you see how many billboards he's got up for that campaign o' his? Can't imagine the cost, hope that's not where your taxes are going – "

"I've seen them, Dad – "

But Stu had already turned to Nick and seemed to waffle between whether to shake his paw or not. He compromised with an awkward wave.

"It sure was nice meeting you, Nick," Stu said, then leaned in as he had when he was discussing the Night Howlers. "And Nick, keep an eye on Jude for me today, will ya? Her eyes are looking a little red – "

"Dad!"

"C'mon Stu," Bonnie said, dragging her husband away by the elbow with one arm and waving with the other.

They were hardly out of earshot before Judy was grabbing Nick by his own elbow and dragging him toward the station. "We've got bullpen in less than ten minutes… I hate being late… I'm never drinking again…" she muttered all the while.

They hurried through the ZPD lobby. Nick braced himself for any number of wink-wink comments from Clawhauser, but he shouldn't have bothered: Clawhauser was leaning heavily on his desk, sunglasses on, barely nibbling on the end of an old-fashioned donut.

"Hey Carrots, it looks like you're not the biggest lightweight on the force," Nick sniggered, but at this point Judy had broken out into a run. He followed her, marveling at her ability to hustle while hungover, and collapsed next to her on their chair in the bullpen. He sensed Fangmeyer's eyes graze over their uniforms with a fair amount of disdain, but he ignored her.

"Calm down rabbit... Bogo isn't even here yet... " Nick wheezed.

But Judy didn't seem to hear him. Her head was in her hands and she peeked at him through her fingers. "I'm so, so sorry about this morning."

"Don't sweat it."

"I'm sorry my parents were so weird around you."

"I don't know Carrots, the way you've described your family I would've thought they'd have come after me with pitchforks and fox tasers. Given what they walked in on, I think they were downright cordial."

"Can you imagine what they must have been thinking?"

"Let's see: older fox in your room, looking like we just got out of bed, fur all over the place, and reeking of alcohol? Nope, can't see what they'd read into that."

Judy groaned and flopped her forehead onto the table. "I want to die," she moaned.

"Aw Carrots, don't do that, I'd have to find a new partner," Nick said, batting playfully at one of her limp ears, "It wasn't that bad. Besides, you could do worse than me. Snarlov was at that bar too, imagine trying to fit him in your apartment."

Judy snorted and looked at him from beneath her ears. "Yeah, you're right. I could do worse than you."

She was already sitting up to face Bogo as the buffalo entered the bullpen, so she couldn't see the smile that crept onto his muzzle. Nick suddenly felt like this morning never happened and that he was indeed having a wonderful day, though he couldn't explain why.

He was so consumed with cheerful thoughts that he missed half of what Bogo said. Usually he at least attempted to listen, knowing full well that whatever he missed would be committed to memory by Judy anyway, but today he didn't mentally check back in until Bogo snapped, "Hopps! Wilde!"

They both straightened in their seats. "We've had a rash of reports of violent attacks in the last week," Bogo continued, "Hospital reports. None of the victims will come forward with information about their attacker, which leads me to believe – "

"That they were engaging in illegal activity themselves," Judy supplied, unable to stop herself.

Chief Bogo sighed at the interruption but continued, "Correct. The locations are not centralized, though the most recent attacks have occurred on the southern outskirts of Savanna Central. I want you two to patrol the area and be on the lookout. We need whatever intel you can provide."

"Yes sir!" they chimed getting up from their seat.

"And officers?"

Judy looked around at the chief hopefully.

"If you ever show up in this building with your uniforms in that state again, you'll be on meter maid duty. Dismissed!"

Judy all but sank into the floor with embarrassment. But Nick, who was used to being a source of irritation for Bogo, saluted the chief with a cheery, "Noted, sir!"

Someone sniggered behind him. Glancing around, he spotted Grizzoli, just leaving the bullpen himself, laughing at them quietly. If Bogo wasn't staring them down Nick would have had a very specific paw gesture for the white wolf.

* * *

They were ten minutes into a silent cruiser ride when Nick finally spoke up.

"So, I know this hasn't been one of your better mornings," he said, lifting his sunglasses, "but if you don't say something soon you're going to force my paw."

Judy sighed. "And what paw is that?"

"The one that turns on the radio and sings karaoke as loud as I possibly can."

Her dour expression finally softened. "And just when I thought my day couldn't get any worse," she teased.

"Hey, you're the one who's good at the pep talk, cheering up sorta thing. All I've got to offer is karaoke, pawcicles, and a slew of hilarious but inappropriate jokes. But things could be a lot worse you know. We could be on meter maid duty, we could be at the DMV, we could be – a raccoon and a wolverine?"

"What?"

"Look."

Judy slowed the cruiser to a halt and followed in the direction Nick was pointing. A raccoon and a wolverine were standing on the corner in what looked to be a heated discussion. As the argument picked up tempo, the wolverine used his height to tower over the raccoon, who cowered.

Judy set her jaw. "We should go check out what's going on."

"They haven't done anything yet, Carrots."

"But look at the raccoon, he's scared!"

"Of course he is, he picked a fight with a mammal who has claws as big as his head."

"Which is why we should be out there."

"But nothing's happened yet, and probably nothing will. It's broad daylight and there's other mammals around, who'd be stupid enough to pick a real fight right here, right now? Trust me Carrots, I used to see this kind of thing all the time. It's going to blow over in a minute, I'm telling you."

Judy gave him a fierce look. "Bogo told us to patrol, and we found someone who's being picked on. I don't care who you are or what you have or haven't done, everyone deserves help. It's our job."

He knew instinctively that she meant him to understand that the "everyone" had once included him. If she hadn't always had this attitude he wouldn't be sitting in this cruiser right now. Admiration surged through him, for this bunny who just wouldn't quit, admiration tinged with something else he couldn't identify. Not quite, not yet. All he knew is that it gave him an insane urge to grab her and do… something, but he didn't know what. It was frustrating and weird so he pushed it away to make room for a joke instead.

"I know that was a veiled reference to me, but if you recall you were mostly blackmailing me, not helping me."

"Ugh, let's go," she said, though he caught the grin that flitted across her face as she jumped out of the cruiser.

Nick sized the two mammals up as he followed her. The raccoon seemed harmless enough, his height landing somewhere between Nick and Judy, but the wolverine was big. And wide. And had some serious claws. Not that Judy couldn't handle him, but Nick would feel like heel if he picked the easier target.

"I got the wolverine," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth. Judy gave him a thumbs up, and he was glad she didn't argue this time.

"Is there a problem here, gentlemen?" Judy asked, strutting forward confidently.

The raccoon looked at them with neither relief nor fear. Almost as if he'd been expecting them, which struck Nick as odd. But he didn't have time to think about it, as the wolverine had taken one look at them before making a run for it.

"Oh wait, I haven't even told my name yet!" Nick teased, taking off after him.

The wolverine did not get very far. "Lumber" was a more accurate word than "running" for what he was doing. His gate was awkward, like something was wrong with his leg. Nick caught up with him easily, and used a full body tackle he had learned at the academy to leap onto the wolverine's back and take him down. The wolverine grunted underneath him, and Nick wasted no time in trapping his paws into cuffs.

"Wow, at least _try _to get away next time," Nick said, yanking the wolverine to his feet, "it's no fun if you're heart's not in it – Carl?"

The wolverine showed fear for the first time as Nick stared at him. It _was _Carl, an old hustler he and Finnick knew from several years ago. "What are you doing, buddy? I thought you went legit, worked for the electric company now – "

His nose twitched. Nick smelled something, something pleasant and vaguely floral. It was familiar but he couldn't place it. He glanced down towards the source. Noticing where Nick was looking, Carl hastily shifted his hips so something bagged, something blue, fell further into his pocket.

"Hey, mind sharing what that is with the class?" Nick asked sharply.

Before Carl could respond, a loud crash made them both look up. Trash cans had scattered as an enormous rhino came barreling around the corner. The rhino's eyes were wild, and something blue was puffing out of his nostrils with each bestial breath. Nick froze, perplexed, until he realized the rhino was charging. At them. No, not at them. At Judy.

In that moment Nick remembered several things. Not anything that had to do with his academy training, but rather he remembered the feel of Judy pressed against him under the lamplight last night. He remembered how he felt when she'd briefly left his life after the conference. He remembered how he felt when she came back. Something deep, something like instinct, was telling him there was a reason he felt the things he did when he made her laugh.

And it was instinct that propelled him away from Carl and towards Judy instead, running with a speed he didn't know he had. Judy's attention had been on the raccoon and she was only just seeing the rhino now, she'd never have time to get out of his path, and without conscious thought Nick leapt at her, pushing Judy out of the way with everything he had –

The rhino collided into his shoulder horn first. There was a popping noise followed by a sickening pain and he was flying backwards through the air. His paws scrambled helplessly at nothing until _WHAM, _he crashed into something solid and everything went dark.


	4. Chapter 4

"It's not funny, Nick. You could have died."

"C'mon, they said I'll be fine. And you have to admit it's a little funny, here, watch it again - "

The security cam footage played out on the screen of his phone, the one of him getting launched into the air by the rhino and smacking brutally into a brick wall. Judy knew Nick was laughing at the part where he landed in the most undignified way possible - face first into a trash can, bottom in the air, tail crooked - but she also knew there was a hysterical tinge to the laughter, one that wanted to focus on the humor of the situation and definitely not talk about what actually happened.

This was the only thing that kept her from smacking him right now, considering that she had spent most of the afternoon in the hospital waiting room, in tears, unable to get any information because she was not family. Judy had thought about calling Nick's mother, but that relationship was a frayed and complicated thing that he was still steadily repairing, so she refrained. She thought about calling her own parents, but then remembered that they still might be in the city and thus had the potential to storm into the ER and make a scene. In the end she'd only talked to Bogo, mostly so he could tell her Nick would be on medical leave and to please update him about Nick's condition, not that he cared or anything.

It wasn't until hours later that she was allowed to see him. They only had megafauna hospital rooms available and Nick looked childlike on the enormous bed. His arm was in a sling, bandages were wrapped around his head, and blood had pooled on the right side of his face, giving him the impression of a black eye beneath his fur. He had been trying to tear open a pudding cup with his teeth when she entered. She had rushed forward to help him with it, which was when he looked at her gravely and said he had been told he only had one week to live.

It had taken nearly ten minutes to calm Judy down after that, mostly involving Nick frantically trying to explain that it was a joke, he thought it would lighten the mood, that the doctors told him he would be fine, just fine. It was another ten minutes after that until Judy felt like she could talk to Nick without throttling him.

"They said you're lucky to be alive," Judy countered, perched next to him on the bed and looking at him crossly, "If his horn had been a few inches higher he would have hit you in the head and crushed your skull."

"Vivid, thank you. But my skull didn't get crushed. It's just a little dislocated shoulder and a teensie schmeensie concussion. Nothing for you to worry your fuzzy little head about."

Judy dragged her eyes away from his bandages and looked at his face. "That rhino hit your shoulder because he was _aiming_ for my fuzzy little head. You saved my life."

"Just doin' my job, ma'am," he said in a pretend, gruff cop voice. He looked around the room. "Hey, do you want to get something to eat? I hear the saltines at this place is divine - "

"We were just lucky Grizzoli got there so fast, I don't know what else would have happened," Judy pressed, refusing to let Nick change the subject again.

This caught his attention. "Grizzoli was there?" he asked, his voice an edge harder.

"How else do you think we got out of that alive? I don't know how he got there so fast, I hadn't even called dispatch yet. He talked to the rhino until he calmed down, I have no idea how he did it."

The humor was gone from Nick's face by this point, and he seemed to have gone for more of a forced neutral. "What happened to Carl – er, the wolverine? The raccoon? Did Grizzoli swoop in and magically arrest them too?"

Judy ignored his bitter tone. He was in the hospital, after all. "I think they got away. I don't know, I wasn't really paying them much attention. I was... I was making sure you were okay."

She thought she did a pretty decent job of hiding the quiver in her voice that the sudden lump in her throat caused. It was hard to think about, even for a moment. That rhino had hit him so hard and the sound it made was so awful - but she could not fool Nick. His expression softened and he draped his good arm across her shoulders, wincing slightly as he did so.

"Thanks, Carrots. I mean it. I'm sure you were a hero back there, I just wish I'd been conscious for it."

"Pssh, me, the hero. You're the one who put yourself between me and an angry, charging rhino." She looked at him squarely. "Why'd you do it, you dumb fox?"

He struggled. "I... I don't..."

Part of her knew she should not have pushed him to talk, but she did because she needed to. Because that had been her friend, her _Nick_ who she saw pushing her out of harm's way just before harm found him, and in those moments when she had heaved him out of the trash can and he was unresponsive she had thought that the unthinkable had happened.

She knew it was part of the job. She knew what she, what _they_, had signed up for. But it was all just a far away idea until now when something had actually happened. And now that it had, she needed to make sure he was okay, because he did not seem like he was. It wasn't so much the bruises and bandages. It was something different, something off that she could not place.

Whatever it was, she could see it now when their eyes met. There was something in his face that had never been there before. The weight of his arm left her suddenly, and now Nick seemed terribly confused -

"Nick, what - "

A knock at the door made them both jump. A nurse stepped in. "You've passed concussion protocol, Mr. Wilde. You're ready for discharge."

* * *

Nick blinked his eyes open at last. Was he still in the hospital? Where was Judy? No. He was in his own bed. In his apartment. The sun was out. Not morning, but afternoon sun was streaming in the window. And everything hurt.

He felt it the moment he tried to sit up. Yesterday in the hospital, high on adrenaline and painkillers, he thought he was on his way to a miraculous recovery. For having been almost trampled by a rhino, he honestly hadn't felt that bad. He was maybe possibly going to stroll into headquarters and brag to Grizzoli about it. But it turns out his body was just giving him a rain check.

Every single inch of him ached, all the way down to the tip of his tail. Even breathing hurt, as the expansion of his lungs put pressure on his bruised rib cage. Huffing through his nose, Nick squeezed his eyes shut and pushed himself into a seated position. His stiff joints screamed with pain and he already felt exhausted.

He glanced at his bedside clock. 3:32pm. He'd slept for nearly sixteen hours. But next to his clock he saw his bottle of painkillers alongside a fresh coffee, a blueberry muffin, and two notes. Wincing, he reached out to them.

_Dear Nick,_

_Try to eat some of this muffin (it's from the place you like, you know which one) when you take your prescription. You shouldn't have the pills on an empty stomach._

_Bogo said I had to come in to record my report but I'll come check on you on my lunch break. Call me if you need anything. I hope it doesn't hurt too bad :(_

_Love, Judy_

He flipped to the second note.

_Dear Nick,_

_You're still asleep and I didn't want to wake you up. I brought you some lunch, it's in your fridge. Yes, that means I saw how empty your fridge is. You live next to a grocery store, you have no excuse._

_I'll try to get out early so I can come over. Clawhauser was so worried about you. There's a rumor going around that the rhino gored you and you also pushed a troop of junior ranger scouts to safety too. I think Wolford started it. I didn't correct him._

_Love, Judy_

He smiled (okay, how was _smiling_ allowed to hurt?) and reached for the painkillers. Gulping them down with the coffee, he tried to decide whether he was sad that he had missed her visit or glad that he did not have to endure another round of questioning as to why he had jumped in front of that rhino that, despite all his jokes, should have very well killed him.

His phone buzzed. Picking it up, he found several missed calls. One from the doctor. Several from Clawhauser, bless him. Even one from Bogo. And a recent text from Judy: _Lionheart reported a break in. Asked for me and Grizzoli personally. Bogo wouldn't let me turn it down. May be home late :( Clawhauser said he'd check on you if you'd like_

Nick was on his feet so fast it took a moment for the pain to catch up. He hissed through his teeth when it did, but he ignored it, pulling the closest shirt out of his closet. He struggled to get his injured arm, wrapped in a sling, through the armhole, and by the time he managed that he was panting with pain, so buttoning it was out of the question. Who cares if he looked snot-nosed high school wannabe in his open Pawaiian shirt, no wonder Judy hated his clothes, he had to get down to the station -

Because whatever had made him jump in front of that rhino had made him jump to his feet just now. At least, he was pretty sure. Thinking about it in full was like staring into the sun. Brilliant and warm, but too bright and intense. And it was all very new, and so different, and a bit frightening. He couldn't explain it but he had to go now. Because it was Judy, Judy, _Judy_ -

He had to talk to Bogo.

* * *

Judy craned to look out of the cruiser window as Grizzoli drove. It was easily double the size of hers. "So why do you think the mayor requested us?"

Grizzoli shrugged. "Not sure why he asked for me, but you? I would've thought that was obvious."

"What's obvious?"

"Oh c'mon Hopps!" Grizzoli laughed. "Single handedly solved the missing mammals case? Used the proof to get Lionheart out of jail? Poster girl for mammal inclusiveness? Who wouldn't want you on their case?"

"Thanks Grizz, but first of all, I may have gotten Lionheart out of prison, but _I _was the one who landed him there in the first place. And second of all, I didn't 'single-handedly' solve that case, Nick gets half the credit. He was basically my unofficial partner."

Grizzoli glanced at her. "Too bad he's not here, huh? Could use a tough guy like him, I still can't believe he lived through that rhino thing."

"Yeah," Judy said evasively, not wishing to discuss it. She didn't think she could without shuddering. "Nick would be great to have on this case. He's so good at noticing little things. He knows how to get a quick read on people and assess the situation, and he can really think on his feet. And sometimes he's a little cautious, but all it takes is a bit of a nudge and he'll jump right in to whatever you need him to do. And nudging is one of my specialties, so - "

Judy cut herself off when she noticed Grizzoli smirking at her, and it dawned on her that she'd been babbling about Nick with dopey smile on her face.

* * *

Clawhauser nearly dropped his frappe as Nick scurried past him.

"Nick, what – wow, you look terrible – _didn't you just leave the hospital?_" he sputtered in shock.

Nick ignored him just as he ignored his screaming body. He rushed past the front desk, past the shocked eyes of his coworkers and the snickers of various arrested mammals. He plunged ahead until he at Bogo's office, praying he was inside, and tore in before he'd barely finished his first knock.

By a stroke of lukc, Chief Bogo was indeed behind his desk, fishing his signature on a stack of papers. "Wilde?" Bogo blurted, his hoof going errant in shock and drawing a great streak of ink across the paper. "What the hell are you doing here, you're on medical – what in god's name are you wearing?"

"You need to call Carr – Hopps off this case."

There was a long, heavy pause that filled only with the sound of Nick's wheezing for breath.

"_I'm sorry?_" Bogo asked at last, a deadly note entering his voice.

Nick ignored him. "You need to call her off. Something weird's going on, I'm telling you, something's not right. That rhino thing yesterday is feeling more and more like a set up – why were they right there, in our path, in broad daylight? No crook worth his salt would do that, not five minutes away from the station, and I've seen some real idiots in my day. And Flash – you know Flash, sloth, nice guy, from the DMV? – Flash could have gotten away faster than that wolverine did, it's like he wasn't even trying. And now Lionheart's asking for her specifically? Her and _Grizzoli_, that obnoxious, that… what's up with that? Something's up, I can't explain it but this feels like the missing mammals case all over again!"

Nick was panting. It had all come out in a rush. The exertion had cost him, and he collapsed into the chair across from Bogo with a grimace.

By contrast, Bogo had remained absolutely silent, his face like stone. After nearly a minute, he finally asked quietly, "Are you done?"

Nick stared at him, trying to control his breathing. "Sure, I guess."

Bogo lunged to his feet. It was an intimidating maneuver and Nick flung himself back against his chair in shock. "How _dare _you come in here, unannounced and out of uniform, and suggest that I, your chief, am putting one of my officers in deliberate danger after a baseless assumption!" Bogo roared. "Especially when I, your chief, put you on medical leave in order for you to recover and get back to the job that I pay you to do!"

"But sir – "

"And have you stopped to even bother to consider that Hopps is a more than competent officer – a _senior officer_ to you, I might add – who is fully capable of handling herself without your assistance? An officer who is allowed and expected to patrol with any officer I so choose? What do you think she'd have to say if she knew you had come in here and demanded she be taken off a case? That she shouldn't to be allowed out of the office without you? I understand why you chose to do what you did yesterday, but risk is part of the job, and I will not abide you treating a fellow officer like she needs a babysitter! Believe me, I've seen this hundreds of times during my years on the force. One bad arrest, one bullet wound, one rough hit, that's all it takes to make you paranoid – "

"But _sir – _"

"SHUT UP WILDE!"

Bogo was now so worked up he actually snorted. Taking a breath, he continued in much quieter, but no less frightening, voice, "You are on thin ice, officer. You are to report home to finish out the remainder of your medical and return to the office when, and only when, you feel capable enough for desk duty. If you truly respect Hopps as a police officer, you are not to monitor Hopps' independent casework in any manner whatsoever. And if you _ever_ barge into my office and speak to me like this again, I'd start packing my belongings if I were you. _Is that understood_?"

They glared at each other, each breathing heavily. Nick's fists were clenched, and each beat of his heart caused pain to radiate throughout his body. He had half a mind to scream at Bogo, to rip the radio off his belt and call Judy off the case. But he knew, deep down, that Bogo was right. He knew that Judy would have some choice things to say to him if he did that.

At long last, Nick hissed, "Understood, sir."

"Good. Now get the hell out of my office."

Bogo returned his attention to his paperwork. With one final glare, Nick spun on his heel and stomped out of the office. He caught a few stares from his fellow officers as he marched down the hall, but he did not care. Embarrassment was seeping in and replacing his certainty that he had been right. That something was amiss. Hearing Bogo say it – well, _scream _it – made Nick realize how ridiculous he'd sounded. Baseless assumption. He'd stormed into his boss's office on what, a gut feeling? That was stupid. He was stupid. Reacting without thinking to every minor suspicion was usually Judy's job, not his.

Fists still clenched, he stomped into the break room. He needed coffee. Or to punch something. He wasn't sure which.

Fangmeyer was there, pouring coffee for herself. She took in his appearance. "Cute outfit, Wilde," Fangmeyer drawled.

"Thanks, your mom picked it out for me this morning," Nick spat back without thinking.

Realizing what he said and to whom, he froze in place. Fangmeyer lowered her coffee and stared back at him, blinking with shock. Nick braced himself, getting ready to duck the punch he was sure was coming -

The corners of Fangmeyer's mouth twitched. Twitched again. And then, to his complete astonishment, she let out the tiniest snort of laughter.

"Is it cold in here?" Nick asked, still not moving. "Because either you laughed or hell just froze over."

She shrugged. It was amazing how she could make such a common gesture look imperial. "You told a joke and I laughed, I don't see what's so odd about that."

"It's odd because you never laugh. And it wasn't so much a joke as an insult."

"I never get the chance to laugh. The others don't think I can take a joke. You're probably the first mammal's that's thrown a 'your mom' at me in my entire life."

Nick blinked at her. "And… that's a good thing?"

Appearing to grow bored with him, she examined her claws. "It's nice to feel like one of the guys every now and then."

Nick huffed and brushed past her. "Yeah? Well let me know how it feels, will ya?"

He was pouring himself some coffee when he heard her say, "I heard your little chat with Bogo."

He turned. While still haughty, she was watching him out of the corner of her eye. So she wasn't bored. She was just stealthy.

"Eavesdrop much?" he drawled. His temper refused cool down.

Fangmeyer's eyes narrowed. "I'm pretty sure the whole precinct heard it."

Nick shot a glare back to her and refused to respond.

"I just wanted to say," she said, surveying him carefully, "you should try not to worry so much." When Nick merely blinked at her, Fangmeyer continued, "She's tough, that Hopps. She'll come back to you in one piece. Just relax."

He stared at her. Mostly because he was still in a state of shock that she was even speaking to him. But also because a part of him took immeasurable comfort in her words, and prayed to anything and everything that they were true. Maybe he was being stupid and paranoid. _Wouldn't be the first time_, he could practically hear Judy say. And Grizzoli was Fangmeyer's partner after all, and she wasn't dissolving into a pathetic, nervous wreck simply because he was on a case without her. Then again, he supposed if Grizzoli was his partner, he might be glad for some time apart too -

No. He had to stop thinking like that. As grade school as it sounded, Judy wanted him to make friends, and he wasn't going to do that if he was trash talking his fellow officers, even if it was only in his head –

"Are you _sure_ you passed concussion protocol?"

Nick shook his head, coming back down to earth. Fangmeyer was looking at him with what passed for concern, at least for her anyway, and he knew his eyes must have glazed over.

"Yeah yeah, fine. Just, you know, painkillers."

Fangmeyer turned for the door. "Go home, Wilde."

He nodded at her as she left. Chugging his coffee, he left shortly after, trying to think of ways he could be more approachable, trying to think about why the wolverine was carrying that same blue drug, and definitely trying not to think about Judy and Grizzoli cozied up in the wolf's monstrous cruiser.

He was about to board the subway when the thought struck him. Nick didn't know what the blue drug was, but he knew someone who might.

It was something he shouldn't do, someone he shouldn't call, and his body was screaming at him to return to his apartment. Nick wasn't even sure if he would pick up the call.

But, if it got him answers...

Nick pulled out his phone.


	5. Chapter 5

Nick leaned against the cool stone beneath the bridge, willing himself not to start pacing. The sun had gone down now and the night was quiet. He'd forgotten how peaceful it could be – he had not returned here since Judy had found him to apologize. There'd been no reason to seek it out since then.

There was a flash of headlights and the sound of a familiar engine. Nick pushed himself straight and followed the van as it wound down the dry riverbed, dust trailing behind it. It came to a stop just before the bridge. The engine ticked as it cooled.

Nick was unable to hide a small smile as he approached the window. It rolled down to reveal a puff of cigarette smoke. When that cleared, Finnick was eying him coolly.

"License and registration?" Nick asked, smirking.

"Hilarious," Finnick drawled. He took in Nick's sling and bruises. "So... cop life treating you well, I see."

"You should see the other guy," Nick said, shrugging and then immediately regretting it as pain coursed through his shoulder. "It's good to see ya, sonny boy."

Finnick grunted at him, then glanced around. "Where's the bunny?"

"On a case."

"Am I the case?"

Finnick had still not left the safety of the van. He was poised to flee at any moment. Nick realized how stupid he had been to assume that he and Finnick would just pick up right where they left off, like the past year had not risen a mountain between them. If he was being honest, Nick had considered them to be friends at one point – that was before Judy swept in and changed his definition of the concept entirely. It did not help that Finnick was looking at him with all the distrust that he, Nick, knew that he must have thrown at that police for most of his life.

Nick raised the paw that wasn't in a sling to reveal that it was empty. "Finn," he said quietly, "No one else is here. It's just me. I'm not even on duty, I'm on medical leave - "

"No kidding."

" - and I get why you don't want to talk to me. The fact that you even picked up the phone is more than I could have asked for. I'm not asking you to trust me, I'm just asking you to help me."

"So you only talk to me when you need me. I see not much has changed."

"Don't be like that. That's for your benefit as much as mine. There's only so much I can pretend to ignore now."

"So I help you. What's in it for me?" Finnick asked.

"The satisfaction that comes from knowing you're helping to make the world a better place?" Nick tried.

Finnick regarded him icily. Everything was silent apart from the night chirping of the crickets and distant sounds of cars on the freeway. Then, when Nick was just about to wave him off, Finnick sighed and stepped out of the van. "You've been spending too much time with that dumb bunny."

"Don't call her that. But yes, that is a distinct possibility."

"Well, come out with it Wilde. What do you want?"

Nick pulled his phone from his pocket and brought up the picture he'd taken of the strange blue drug. He handed it to Finnick. "I was hoping you could tell me anything you know about this."

Finnick accepted to phone with both paws and frowned at the picture. After a moment he said, "What'd you do, crush a Smurf?"

"Yes, and I'm heartbroken about it," Nick drawled, "No, I found this on a suspect and I think I saw it on at least two others. You know it?"

Finnick's ears twitched at the word "suspect," but he shook his head. "No, this is new to me... but..." Finnick eyed him. "Is this off the record?"

"Finn, I'm meeting you in the dead of night under a bridge on my day off. This is about as off the record as it gets."

Finnick handed the phone back. "Alright... there's been some talk about a new drug on the streets. It has a couple names - Happy Blues, Gettin' the Blues, whatever - and mammals want it. Sounds like it's a new kind of high, something that's supposed to make you really feel alive or some cheesy shit like that. But whoever makes it doesn't make it cheap. Heard some crazy rumors about what it's going for on the street. Who'd you find it on? Some yuppie trust fund kid?"

Nick frowned, still staring at the picture. "No... just some - "

The words "someone like you" were in the back of his throat and the mountain between him and Finnick became a chasm. He hated himself for it.

"- just some average Joe."

Finn shrugged. "Probably stolen then."

"Or someone gave it to them," Nick murmured.

"Whatever you want. You're the boy in blue," Finn said, leaning against the van. "Anyway, I've never seen the dope myself, but if I was a gambling mammal I'd say this was it."

Nick slid his phone back in his pocket. "Thanks, Finn. I mean it. You didn't have to come out here."

"You're right, I didn't."

"Then why did you? Was it my animal magnetism? Did you miss my charm and roguish good looks?"

Finnick rolled his eyes at Nick's smirking face. "Don't flatter yourself. I just thought maybe this wasn't going to be all cop talk. I thought maybe you had something else in mind. Something like old times."

Nick kept his face carefully neutral. He knew Finnick would deck him if he showed any pity. "... You know I can't, man."

Finnick flicked an ear dismissively. "Can't blame a guy for hoping. You always made it fun." After a moment he asked, "Do you miss it?"

"No," Nick said without thinking, though he knew it to be the truth. "But I do miss some of our more memorable nights out."

"Well gee, doesn't that make me feel all warm and squishy inside," Finnick drawled waspishly, "Save that garbage for the rabbit."

Finnick dropped nimbly back into the van and brought the ignition to life. Nick thumped the driver side door with his fist, and with an eye roll, Finnick rolled the window down.

"What do you want, Wilde? A goodnight kiss?"

"If you hear anything else about this Blues stuff, anything at all, you'll let me know?" Nick asked. He held his breath.

Finnick squinted at him. "Maybe," he grunted.

Nick stepped back as the van peeled away, leaving him in a cloud of dust. He watched it go until the taillights disappeared, the familiar combination of lost and lonely that he'd felt for so much of his life churning through him for the first time in a year.

* * *

"There she is, my favorite bunny officer!"

Mayor Lionheart's voice boomed over the rushing sound of the fountain in his extensive driveway. Grizzoli parked the cruiser and Judy made her way toward him. Lionheart bent down to warmly shake her hand. "Mayor Lionheart," Judy said, nodding.

"No one I'd rather have on the case during these times. Bad times, very bad times indeed…" Lionheart led them into his mansion. The circular foyer was made up of floor to ceiling windows, revealing the spectacular view of Zootopia from its perch on the hills. A glittering chandelier hung over her head and fine artwork lined the halls. He certainly had expensive taste. "It happened while I was at a campaign rally this afternoon. Kissing babies, you know the drill. Then I came home to this."

They rounded the corner into his study, which could have fit at least fifty of Judy's apartment. It bore all the signs of having been rummaged through: drawers open and askew, papers thrown about, a chair tipped over, books thrown from the shelves. Someone had been searching for something.

While Grizzoli began snapping photos, Judy turned to the mayor. "Security cameras pick up anything?"

"Lines were cut," Lionheart said with a shrug, "my wife was with me, the cleaning staff had already left, gardener didn't see anything."

Judy jotted his answer on her notepad. "Do you know what the perp could have been looking for? Is anything missing? Valuables? Documents?"

Lionheart nodded gravely. "They left the valuables, but my recent tax returns are missing. Several folders. Someone trying to get dirt on me, I think that's obvious. Those documents are sensitive, I can assure you – we're really hoping for discretion on this case, if you know what I mean, officer."

Grizzoli's head popped up from behind the mayor's enormous desk. "Found some fur!" he cried, brandishing a few bristles trapped in a tweezers. He dropped it carefully into an evidence bag.

"Bravo, officer!" Lionheart cheered. He turned back to Judy. "Hopps, I met your parents the other day regarding their night howlers - lovely mammals, real salt of the earth folk - they mentioned something about a Carrot Party?"

"Carrot Days Festival," she corrected automatically.

"Right - big deal in your hometown? Lots of local folk?"

"Oh yeah," she said, waving a paw, "it's the biggest event of the year. No one misses it. There are plays, rides, games, there's even this - "

"Great, great," Lionheart boomed over her jovially, "I was thinking it would be an excellent stop on my campaign trail. Really get a chance to speak to my voters outside the city, you know?"

"You? In - in Bunnyburrow?" she sputtered. "I'm sorry sir, I don't mean to be rude, I'm just a little surprised - "

Lionheart chuckled. "Oh don't be sorry, I've been meaning to make a trip out there for some time now. Really bring some publicity to your folks, local farming and all that, it's very popular now you know. Sustainability, organic this and that. I'd be happy to lend some of my fame over to your family - I owe you one, you saved our fine city after all!"

"Thank you, but it wasn't just me sir, Nick - er, Officer Wilde - "

"Speaking of publicity," Lionheart said, cutting across her again, "I had something I wanted to ask you... I realize you had quite the harrowing, not to mention _heroic_ day yesterday."

Judy's brown furrowed. "Yesterday... wait, the rhino? But sir, how did you know - "

"One of my photographers happened to be on the scene and happened to capture this incredible shot of you and a fox - "

Lionheart pulled a sheet from his desk drawer and showed it to her. Judy's stomach dropped. It was a mock-up for the cover of the Zootopia Times, with a headline reading "HOPPS HOPS TO RESCUE OF INTERSPECIES OFFICER" and beneath it was, unmistakably, a picture of her and Nick moments after the rhino had struck. Judy had pulled Nick out of the trash can by this point, and he was prone on the ground, his face out of view from the camera but clearly unconscious. Judy's face, on the other hand, was in full view as she bent over him, distress and panic pulling at every inch of her features.

Judy swallowed, trying to keep her paws still so the paper would stop trembling. "Sir, I don't understand, how was someone there... "

"This would run on the front page of tomorrow's paper - with your permission, of course. I'm sure you know my opponent is leaning quite hard toward our more, uh, _offbeat_ voters. Altering our existing interspecies laws, etcetera. My campaign is all about showcasing the peace between all mammals while maintaining our more _traditional, _family-oriented values, and what better way to show it than a dramatic image of my favorite, hand-picked officer coming to aide of another mammal – some fox, no less! What do you say?"

Judy stared into Lionheart's broad, excited face while trying to control her own. Part of her felt like _she _had been the one hit by the rhino. She felt unsteady on her feet, like there wasn't enough air in the room. How had he gotten that photo? Why did he want to exploit them that way, when she was so upset, when Nick – not _some_ _fox, _her _Nick – _was motionless, when in that moment she wasn't sure if he was alive or dead –

"I… I need some time to think about it," Judy said, trying to keep the world right side up.

Lionheart's expression faltered, but he recovered quickly. "Of course, of course… if you could just let me know first thing in the morning, we could still make the afternoon edition!"

"I should help Officer Grizzoli, sir," Judy said. She turned abruptly and wandered into the next room, not really paying attention to where she was going. It was a vast dining room that could have sat at least fifteen large mammals. A bowl had been knocked over, scattering fruit across the floor. Another chair had been knocked down, and the drawers in the buffet had obviously been looted through. More fur was laying innocently in the drawer. Judy studied the room from top to bottom, grateful for the distraction, to pour herself in the work she loved so much. She pulled her tweezers from her belt and picked up the fur.

She opened the next drawer to check for more. Inside the drawer was what was unmistakably a "past due" notice from a loan officer. Several notices, in fact. Frowning, and wondering how on earth someone who lived in a mansion such as this could possibly owe anyone anything, Judy shut the drawer. She was here to investigate a crime, not pry into the mayor's personal life.

Judy placed the fur in an evidence bag. The remainder of her search turned up nothing. Overall, the whole forced entry and burglary was textbook.

Wait a second.

Her nose twitched. It _was _textbook, so much so it looked like it had come straight out of her actual textbook at the academy. She should know, she studied it enough… every bit of evidence was too perfectly placed, the house was rummaged through just the right amount, even the chair was knocked over at the perfect angle. Something about it was just… odd.

She should tell Grizzoli. Judy found her way back to the study, expecting to find the wolf looking for more clues, but instead she found him discussing something quietly but rapidly with Lionheart. They stopped talking when she entered the room and looked at her. "Find anything?" Grizzoli asked.

Judy stared back at the both of them, from Grizzoli's officer stance to Lionheart's casual lean on his chair, claws exposed and pressing indents into the leather. He was eyeing her expectantly. Something was trickling down the back of her mind, telling her something was not right, that she should run. Was it instinct? It must be, because she could almost hear it hissing _predator predator predator_, telling her that she was cornered. That their behavior was, indeed, predatory. But that was ridiculous, hadn't she proved last year that there was nothing wrong with them, nothing _savage_, that predator and prey could coexist? After all, look at her and Nick -

Judy was suddenly acutely aware of Nick's absence. The comfort it provided, the confidence it inspired. How he never looked at her in the greedy way the lion and wolf looked at her now, intending to make her feel small, scared, and trapped. Like prey.

No. She was a big girl now, not some fresh-faced nobody straight out of the academy. She wasn't scared of these two. Not by a long shot. It was in her head, clearly, what with this creepy mansion and they fact that the last 48 hours had been a bit of a tailspin. Judy straightened herself all the way to the tips of her ears. These guys didn't have to worry her.

That didn't mean she had to tell them what she was thinking.

"Nothing, just fur," she said brightly.

* * *

Nick didn't care that his body still ached the next morning. He was going to work.

Because he didn't want to spend the day at home wondering who was selling that drug, wondering why he couldn't shake the feeling that something was just not right in the city again, wondering if Judy hadn't texted him last night because she and Grizzoli were having too good a time together -

Nope, nope, nope. Not wondering about it.

He changed at the station because he was too embarrassed to board the subway in the uniform he knew he would struggle to put on. The joints and tendons in his shoulder protested horribly as he attempted to button his shirt, which he only managed to button halfway, with at least half of those buttons mismatched. He thought about asking Clawhauser for help, but his pride protested that time.

He was in the break room pouring coffee into the biggest mug he could find when he heard her.

"You look terrible."

Nick whipped around. Judy was in the doorway, clutching her tea, head cocked to one side.

"Carrots." His whole body seemed to melt with relief.

"Come here already, let me fix your shirt," Judy said.

"You don't have to - "

"Oh stop, you can barely move your arm," she said as she put her tea down, "Besides, it's my fault you can't button it yourself anyway."

"It's not your fault. It's not like you threw me between you and that rhino like a living shield," Nick said as he approached her.

Her eyes flicked up to his for a moment. "I should have been more aware of my surroundings," she said as she quietly undid the mismatched buttons.

"I know this may come as a shock to you, but not everyone can be perfect one hundred percent of the time. Not even the famous Officer Hopps." Nick struggled to keep his breathing even as he watched her small fingers work deftly over his chest, tried not to think about the fact that it was Judy and she was currently undoing his uniform in the middle of the office.

"I hope you got some rest last night," she murmured.

Nick started, remembering Finnick. For a moment he considered telling her, but then he couldn't bear to see the look on her face if she knew he'd been secretly meeting with old associates in the middle of the night. Not when she was the only mammal in his life who actually trusted him. Especially not when her knuckles were grazing his stomach like that.

"Enough of those painkillers and I'd get enough rest for two rhinos," Nick said with a weak chuckle.

Her hands were now working their way past his navel and up his stomach, fastening buttons as they went. The tips of her ears bumped against his nose and her smell wafted over him, something pleasantly fresh like grass and vanilla but distinctly prey, distinctly Judy. She reached up to finish the last button before spreading both paws to smooth out invisible wrinkles from his uniform. She met his eyes. "Better?"

"Much," he managed to croak.

Her palms rested on his chest. Nick stared back at her, half of him wanting her to stay there forever and half of him wanting her to let go before she felt the way his heart was rocketing beneath her paws.

Before he could decide, Judy blinked and seemed to remember where she was. Her paws jumped off his chest, and she held them awkwardly for a moment before placing them on her hips, not looking at him. She cleared her throat and glanced behind her before finally turning back to him. "I need to talk to you about what happened at Lionheart's – "

"BULLPEN!" came Bogo's bellow from down the hall.

"_Cheese and crackers_!" Judy hissed. In one movement she grabbed his tie, turned, and bolted from the room, dragging him behind her. She lunged into her seat just as Bogo entered the room. Nick collapsed next her, coughing and massaging his neck.

"I was _just_ in the hospital, you know," he grumbled at her, and she gave him an apologetic shrug. She was so difficult to stay mad at that it was annoying. His heart was still pounding.

Bogo cleared his throat and fixed them with a glare. "On to today's assignments. Grizzoli, Fangmeyer, follow up with Mayor Lionheart and the evidence you acquired from the scene yesterday. Hopps, Wilde, you're behind on your paperwork, I need you caught up pronto. Wolford, Delgato, you're back on the lost lemmings case – "

"Sir?"

Bogo froze. The entire room turned to face Grizzoli, who had risen his paw. No one interrupted Chief Bogo during bullpen. Ever. Nick was starting to wonder if the rhino really _had _killed him and he had somehow entered the twilight zone.

"_Yes, officer?_" Bogo asked in a silky voice that Nick was sure had made the temperature drop in the room by several degrees.

"Requesting permission to replace Officer Fangmeyer with Officer Hopps," Grizzoli said.

Nick felt the fur on his tail bristle. Judy blinked at Grizzoli. Fangmeyer was looking at her partner with murder in her eyes.

"And why on earth would you make that request?" Bogo asked.

Nick had to refrain from shouting something along the lines of "great question."

"Well Chief, Officer Hopps was the one who started the case with me, and she already knows all the intricacies of the case – "

"All the intricacies…" Bogo grumbled. "Grizzoli, you spent an evening at the mayor's house. If you think Fangmeyer can't catch up on one evening's worth of investigating, that doesn't say a lot for what you think of your partner."

"What if Hopps wants to be on the case?" Grizzoli pressed.

All eyes in the room turned to Judy. She blinked at the sudden attention, ears erect.

Bogo directed his glare at her. "Well, Hopps?"

Nick held his breath, his claws making indents in the old wood of their chair.

Glancing at Grizzoli, Judy snapped her attention back to the Chief. "Officer Fangmeyer is perfectly capable to resume the case, sir, I'd prefer to return to my own caseload!"

It was all Nick could do to keep a straight face and not smile like an idiot. He couldn't entirely help himself though, and he chanced a look across the room at Grizzoli. The wolf was looking intensely at Bogo, but his face was carefully blank.

"There you have it, Grizzoli," Bogo barked, "My precinct, my assignments. Have you wasted enough of my time?"

After a lengthy pause, Grizzoli fixed a smile back on his face and yelled, "Yes, sir!"

"Dismissed!"

* * *

_Mon July 29. Savanna Cent. Aggravated Assault. R. Eagleton. Claw wounds to chest._

Judy turned from the computer and back to her chart. One set of dots tracking the drug cases, one tracking the aggravated assaults. Finding July 29th on the chart, she marked off the attack with a little dot.

They were back in the filing office now. Nick was sitting across from her, balancing on the back legs of his chair, casually filling out lines on the rhino attack. For someone who still had his arm in a sling and was stuck doing paperwork, he seemed remarkably cheerful; he was humming tunelessly, and every now and then she caught him glancing at her from the corner of his eye. Just like he was doing right now.

"What?" she pressed.

"What?" Nick parroted back.

"Why do you keep looking at me?"

"What, worried I'm going to copy your math homework?"

Judy rolled her eyes and threw her pen at him, though it missed him when he ducked. "You throw like a bunny," Nick shot at her but got up to retrieve it anyway. His tail brushed her shoulder as he turned. She watched his tail, absently, as he pushed aside boxes. After a moment of digging around, she heard him ask, "Gwen Reedbuck's that one running against Lionheart, isn't she?"

Blinking, Judy shook her head, feeling dazed. "Uh… yeah, why?"

"Did you know she reported a break in too?"

Judy frowned. "No... "

He tossed her the report. Judy scanned it, her brow furrowing further with each line. "That's so weird... it says here that Grizzoli investigated her house yesterday, but I don't know how he could have. He was with me at Lionheart's the entire time... it's even got Bogo's signature on it. Where did you find this?"

"It was mixed in with one of the boxes over here, I only saw it because it was the only thing that wasn't covered in a healthy inch of dust."

"But why would it be there - "

Before she could finish that thought, Judy's phone buzzed. She glanced at it and groaned.

At Nick's raised eyebrow, she said, "It's the mayor's assistant. They want to know if they have my approval for that horrible picture to run in the paper."

"Ah," Nick said, having gotten the full story from Judy immediately after bullpen. "You going to say yes? I gotta say, from what you told me, it sounded very flattering on my part – tail in the air, covered in garbage…"

"Of course I won't let him run it!" Judy cried. "Not only is it a… disturbing picture, but it's in terrible taste! He'd be using it for his own gain! It's, it's…"

"It's politics," Nick said shrewdly.

Judy sighed and bit her lip. "There's just one thing I can't get past… how was there a photographer there? That photo was taken a minute after it happened, tops. What are the odds that a press photographer just happened to be in a random corner of Savanna Central at the exact right time?"

"The same odds that a bunch of thugs just happened to be on that same corner at the exact time we were there," Nick answered darkly.

Judy's nose twitched. "Are you saying it was a set up?"

"I think it's a very good possibly."

"But why though? Why us?"

Nick shrugged. "Million dollar question, Carrots. Maybe so Lionheart could get that photo?"

"That just seems really elaborate when there's already a bunch of photos of the ZPD helping out other mammals, there has to be more to it than that..." Judy murmured, unconvinced.

Nick smirked. "I don't know, maybe he wanted one of you. You are his - what did he call you? His favorite bunny officer?"

"Oh shut up," Judy snapped, aiming a playful kick at him from under the desk.

"Hey, watch those giant feet, I'm going to report you for police brutality - "

"That'll never hold up in court, I was acting in self defense."

"Self defense from what, me taking you down a peg?"

Judy stuck her tongue out at him and returned to the papers. Nick snorted. "Oooh, great comeback, where do you come up with them - "

Judy ears suddenly went ramrod straight. "Nick."

"I can see why you'd want to steal my comebacks, but I would never be that lame – "

"Nick, give me a pen. Now."

"What's the magic word?"

"Nick!"

"Alright, keep your tail on!" Nick cried, looking at her like she was growing another ear but tossing her the pen back all the same.

Judy yanked the chart closer. Hand trembling, she traced the dots of the assaults so it formed a line, then did the same for the drug cases. She stared at the two lines, her heart racing. She flipped the chart around and shoved it in front of Nick's nose.

"This line is the assaults. This line is the drug busts. What do you see?" she breathed.

Nick leaned back so he didn't have to look at the chart cross-eyed. His brow furrowed. "They're the same."

"They're exactly the same. The violent assaults have increased in direct comparison to the drug busts. They're correlated. Do you know what this means?"

They stared at each other.

"It means we have to figure out what's in those drugs," Nick murmured.


	6. Chapter 6

"Did you hear the news?"

Weeks had passed. Enough time for Nick's arm to be out of the sling (along with the doctor's orders to "stay away from anything angry and four times your size." Nick had asked Judy if this meant he didn't have to talk to Chief Bogo anymore, but Judy said no. "Chief's at least five times your size, Slick," she'd reasoned). Enough time for the assault and drug cases to double, leading Bogo to put over half the force to figure out what the hell was going on. Enough time for the news outlets to catch on to the rise in crime, prompting Mayor Lionheart to redouble his campaign efforts into a relentless slew of commercials, billboards, rally events. And enough time for some very interesting gossip to reach Nick's ears as he waited in the forensics office.

Two analysts were whispering rapidly to each other, occasionally glancing Nick's way to make sure he didn't overhear. Nick, well practiced in the art of pretending not to be listening, casually flicked through his phone as his canine hearing picked up every word.

"News about what?"

"Grizzoli's case. With the hairs he found at the mayor's house."

"No, what?"

"Analysis is final. The hairs are Reedbuck's."

"The hairs are - wait, Reedbuck as in running-for-mayor Gwen Reedbuck?"

"Yes!"

"_No!_"

"Conclusive evidence, links her to the scene of the crime – Grizzoli interrogated her and everything."

"Did she get arrested?"

"No. Well, not yet, anyway. Reedbuck denied everything. Said something about how _she _was the one who got robbed. What a load of bull, right? That's why I stay out of politics, that woman was so desperate to get elected she made broke into Lionheart's house – "

"Officer Wilde?"

Nick jolted out of their conversation, nearly dropping his phone. The analyst he'd been waiting on, a chestnut-brown cougar, had returned to her desk.

"Whatcha got for me?" he asked as he quickly composed himself.

The analyst spread her paws. "Nothing."

Nick blinked. "Come again?"

"There's nothing there. The sample doesn't exist."

"What do mean it doesn't exist? I know it does, I saw it, I held it, it was some blue, powdery-looking drug Hopps and I pulled off a bear - "

"I believe you officer, but it doesn't exist in our system."

"But it's been weeks! Did you guys lose it or something?"

He'd struck a nerve. The cougar's eyes narrowed and she snapped, "We don't lose evidence, officer. Either you lost it, or it was never turned in to our lab. Now tell me, did you turn this 'blue powder' in or not?"

"Yeah I - " Nick froze, thinking. "Actually... no, I didn't..."

The cougar leaned back, looking smug.

Nick glared at her. "I didn't turn it in because we gave it to Grizzoli, he was supposed to!"

"Then I'd go accuse Grizzoli of being forgetful, not me," she said coolly, turning back to her computer and not giving him another glance.

Nick stomped out of forensics, grumbling to himself. Mostly about Grizzoli, and how everyone thought he was so perfect, and how he could supposedly crack the mayor's case and yet he can't seem to bring a stupid bit of evidence down to stupid forensics. Probably because he was too busy chatting up Judy in the hallways, asking her to join him on patrol, swishing his stupid white tail at her – not that she'd like that, would she? Judy wouldn't be into long fluffy tails, into cold black noses, into _fangs –_

With a shuddering breath, Nick stopped in the hallway and leaned his forehead against his locker, pressing to it so the cool metal reached past his fur and to his skin. Weeks had passed. Enough for him to give up pretending that the heat in his neck when Judy smiled at him was not there, that he felt no phantom ache when she was not around. That he couldn't stop staring at her, even when she was concocting that _disgusting_ mixture of green nonsense in her juicer or singing along off-key to Gazelle when they were in the cruiser.

He was excellent at faking it, after all. But for all the mammals he'd hustled, it was turning out that he could not hustle himself. She was a loose thread that he'd had since the moment he'd met her, that he shouldn't have tugged but did anyway, and now everything he'd made himself to be was rapidly unraveling. He was afraid to do anything about it. He was just as afraid not to. He hated himself for wanting more from her when she already gave him so, so much.

"Uh, Nick? What are you doing?"

Head still against the locker, Nick's eyes darted to Judy, who had just entered the hall. "Um… thinking? This is how foxes think sometimes?" He tried not to wince at how lame it sounded.

Judy rolled her eyes as she bounded up to him and pushed him off the locker. "'Kay, that's super weird but whatever, you've got to move, bullpen time!"

"Yo, easy Carrots, what's the rush?"

"I don't want to miss the announcement!"

"Announcement?" Nick repeated, "You mean about the fur?"

"Pssh, that's old news, Clawhauser told me about that this morning. I want to hear about Grizzoli and the promotion."

Nick stopped dead, causing Judy to walk straight into him. "Grizzoli and the what now?"

"Keep moving and you'll find out, genius," Judy said, pushing him again, "Hurry!"

Unable to contain herself, Judy sprinted ahead of him. Sighing, Nick followed her into the bullpen, forcing down his annoyance that she could feel anything resembling excitement when it came to Grizzoli.

With everyone settled in their seats, Chief Bogo entered the room. The quiet buzz of anticipatory murmuring ceased immediately. Straightening his papers, Chief Bogo grunted, "Well, no sense beating around the bush. As I'm sure most of you know thanks to our over-eager dispatcher, I have an announcement to make regarding staffing. You all know Officer Grizzoli and the fine work he's done – "

The room turned to Grizzoli, who was sitting straight in his chair with a humble smile.

"You also know that we've been looking to fill our staffing needs for some time now. As such, it is my pleasure to officially announce that, as of today, our Grizzoli is officially being promoted to captain – "

There was a beat of shocked silence as the room at large, all of them expecting to have heard the word "detective," absorbed the information. Judy turned to Nick, stunned. But in the next moment everything was drowned out by an eruption of applause and raucous shouts. Judy bounced to stand in their chair, clapping so hard her ears shook. Nick, who remained seated, managed a golf clap.

Nick wasn't jealous about the promotion. Even one like the incomprehensible leap from patrol officer to captain. He'd hadn't been an officer for a year, he had as much chance of getting elected mayor as he did being promoted right now. But Judy was beaming at Grizzoli, who was warmly accepting congratulations and pounding fists on his back (he staggered when Francine gave him a solid thump with her trunk). As he watched her he wondered, not for the first time, what it would be like to be another species. To be openly admired. To always make a good first impression. To not have to convince someone that he was likeable, but rather to just be inherently so. To be the golden boy. To have Judy look at him the way she was looking at Grizzoli right now.

When he tore his eyes away from her – his masochism only went so far – he noticed one stare that wasn't so awed. Chief Bogo was watching Grizzoli too, but not with reverence. There was something dark in his expression, something critical. But it was only for a moment; Bogo caught Nick's eye and instantly assembled his face into his normal, more general scowl.

"Alright alright, yes, congratulations, etcetera. We still have work to do. Now, on to today's assignments…"

* * *

Nick worked the paperwork-induced knots out of his neck as he and Judy made their way to the cruisers. He was ready to finish out the second half of their shift and get away from the constant hoots and hollers that had followed Grizzoli all day.

"Why do you always get to drive the cruiser?" Nick asked after he'd filled his travel mug with coffee.

Judy eyed him. "What are you talking about? I've offered to let you drive it before."

"Oh really? I must have been sick that day."

"Oh ha ha, very funny…"

But their banter was cut short by increasingly panicked shouts. Frowning, they followed the noise until they realized it was coming from Clawhauser. The dispatcher was gripping his phone, frantically jotting down notes. Even Grizzoli stopped to watch.

"Okay I… yes… yes… no, I _have _been passing your reports along, I swear!" Clawhauser stammered into the phone, looking more stressed by the second. "Yes… no, I don't know why no one's responded… the chief, I've been passing it along to the chief of police! Yes, Bogo! Yes… of course… right away, Ms. Reedbuck… yes… okay, will do. Bye now."

Clawhauser hung up the phone and collapsed into his chair. He pawed at his box of donuts until he realized it was empty, and then let out a sad little sigh. The three of them approached his desk.

"Sounds like an unsatisfied customer," Nick said.

"Everything alright, Benji?" Judy asked, eyes wide with concern.

Clawhauser shook his head. "That was Gwen Reedbuck… again. She reported a break in a few weeks ago and I swear I forwarded it to Bogo, I promise you! But every time she calls back saying no one responded, and now she's asking if I'm trying to bury her case! Why would I do that? No one has more interspecies pride than me, I own Gazelle's whole line of interspecies active wear!"

He looked on the verge of tears. Again he reached for the empty donut box. Grizzoli shook his head and said, "Don't worry about it, Clawhauser. That Reedbuck is a loon, I'm telling you. She's just scrambling to find a story to cover for the fact that we found her fur at the mayor's estate. Which I already spoke to her about, incidentally, so I guess this is still my case, still my problem, I'll have to get Bogo involved – "

"Or it could be _our _problem," Judy interjected suddenly. All three predators snapped their attention to her. "I mean come on, Grizzoli. You're a captain now, you've got more important things to worry about. This is patrol officer stuff. Nick and I can totally handle it, right Nick?"

Grizzoli's eyes flicked from Judy to Nick. Nick, who admittedly had no idea what Judy was getting at, crossed his arms and smirked at Grizzoli anyway. "You know it, Hopps."

"We're assigned to patrol anyway, and this is in our perimeter… you're a captain, you can hand out assignments…" Judy pressed, eyes wide and tempting.

Silent while he stared at her in thought, Grizzoli finally broke out into a smile. "You know what? That's a great idea, Hopps. That really takes a load off my tail. Great initiative, officer!"

He cuffed her affectionately on the shoulder, and Nick fought down a sudden urge to grab Grizzoli's paw and personally de-claw him. When Grizzoli threw him a "Thanks, Wilde," he managed a forced smile that was more akin to a grimace.

As Grizzoli waved them off, Nick followed Judy. She was already bouncing toward the cruiser. "Alright Hopps," he muttered when they were out of earshot. "What was that about?"

Judy glanced at him. "I want to follow up this Reedbuck case. It was her report we found in the office, after all. I've got a… a feeling. I don't know. An instinct. I can't explain it."

"Please, bunnies don't have instincts. You just have misplaced optimism and a terrible inclination for vegetables. What's really on your mind?"

Judy bit her lip. Nick found this _very _distracting and _very _difficult not to stare at, so he almost missed it when she said, "Do you think Bogo's been acting weird lately?"

Though his first inclination was to laugh, Nick remembered the way Bogo had looked at Grizzoli this morning. He remembered Bogo's signature on the misplaced report. He stared back at Judy, frowning.

"Lead the way, bunny."

* * *

They came to a stop in an area of the Sahara District that Judy could only describe as hip. Not far from the local college, it boasted a younger crowd and a slew of new and interesting restaurants and theaters. She had been here once a few months ago in an attempt to find good vegetarian sushi that Nick had reluctantly joined her on. He had refused to admit that it was good, and Judy had called him a dirty liar.

Whereas Lionheart had lived in a secluded mansion overlooking the city, Judy was surprised to see that Reedbuck appeared to live in a condo. A nice condo from the looks of it, but a condo nonetheless.

"I think this is right," Judy said, glancing at the GPS.

"It's definitely right," Nick replied darkly.

Realizing he wasn't looking at the GPS but rather out the window, Judy followed his gaze. Immediately outside of the security gate, a small but loud crowd of mammals had gathered. They were chanting something that Judy quickly realized was, "_Nature's way's the only way!_"and swinging homemade signs with varying sayings painted onto them. Judy only caught a few, but "SINGLE SPECIES SANCTITY" and "CAN'T MAKE LOVE IF IT CAN'T MAKE CUBS" told her all she needed to know.

"Anti-interspecies protesters," she muttered, getting out of the cruiser.

Nick slammed his door shut with more force than necessary. "Some mammals need to get a life," he snapped.

She glanced up at him, surprised by the sudden flare in his temper. Nick had slid his aviators on and was pointedly looking away from her, so Judy pocketed it away with the other slew of questions she meant to ask her oddly-behaving partner. She didn't have time to dwell on it anyway – the next thing she knew a middle-aged pig was in her face. "You here to shut us down, cop? You think you can silence us? Because you can't, you won't!"

Judy raised a paw. "You have the right to freedom of speech, ma'am, as long as nothing turns violent or we receive any complaints – "

"Wait a minute," the pig woman said, squinting "you're that officer who was all over the news last year… you took a stand on biology!"

Judy felt her ears burn. "I… well, _yes_, but I made a mistake, in reality – "

"So you of _all _mammals must understand why we need to stick to our biological ways, why we need to stick to the same species! I heard you were raised on a farm, like me – you're a good girl. You know it's not natural. You know the bigger mammal is always going to take advantage of the smaller one – you're a bunny, you _get it._"

Judy opened her mouth but no words came out. Instead, the press conference came rushing back to her all over again. The chanting of the crowd may as well have been the shouting of reporters, the body cam on her vest another television crew. A surge of terror bubbled up inside her and she was suddenly convinced she was going to say the wrong thing, she was going to set these mammals off, she was going to make everything worse again and Nick was going to hate her. Nick was right, she didn't have instincts. She didn't have the slightest idea what to do.

Nick, however, did. While Judy stammered, Nick suddenly stepped between her and the pig. He flashed his badge. "You, _ma'am_, are impeding an investigation. Now unless you want to continue your little playground fight at the police station, I suggest you let us do our job and while you do your… well, this isn't a job, what you're doing here… your _hobby_."

His voice was calm, if maybe a little condescending, but he was looking at her with utmost loathing. The pig woman gaped at him, furious. With a satisfied smirk, Nick nudged Judy gently forward with a paw to the small of her back. They weaved their way through protesters until they reached the gate.

"You alright, Hopps?" Nick asked quietly.

Judy shook her head, feeling dizzy. "I'm fine."

He batted her in the back of her legs with his tail. "Remember, we've been over this – don't let them see that they get to you."

She managed a small smile, coming back to herself. With a deep, steadying breath, she buzzed the intercom. A smooth voice answered her. "_May I ask who's calling?"_

"This is Officer Hopps and Officer Wilde from the ZPD."

"_With all due respect officers, I've answered your questions already. If you need more from me, I'm going to have to request that I have my lawyer present – "_

"This isn't about that ma'am. We're responding to your report of a possible break in on August nineteenth?"

A pause. "_Please come in."_

At the buzz, Judy pulled open the gate and Nick followed her, slamming the gate shut before any protesters could slip in. She was pretty sure he made a crude gesture at them before he turned, but she was too distracted by their surroundings. Not because they were grandiose, like Lionheart's, but rather the opposite – they were quite normal.

"Huh," Nick grunted, gazing up at the neat sandstone, "A mayoral candidate who actually _lives _in the city she's trying to govern? And here I thought city-living was only for us peasants."

At the opposite end was a single oak door. Gwen Reedbuck emerged from it and held it open for them. Her outfit suggested she'd just come back from a yoga class, and her eyes were bright and attentive. It was a stark contrast to Lionheart's full suit while he was "relaxing at home."

"I didn't know it was going to be you two," Reedbuck said with a small smile, "Wait until my father finds out. He was obsessed with the missing mammals case. If he saw both of you he'd be begging for your autographs."

Beside her, Judy noticed that Nick had removed his sunglasses and was standing up quite straight, even puffing out his chest. She did her best not to giggle. It was pretty nice of Gwen to say, actually – despite his equal involvement, it was rare that Nick got any credit for his help on that case. She, Judy, was usually the one getting showered in attention, no matter how much she pointed out that he'd done half the work. It was only fair that he got his moment to bask in it. She'd just make a note to tell him how endearingly goofy he looked later.

"May I offer you anything to drink?" Reedbuck asked. "I appreciate you coming here, by the way. I will be honest, for a while I felt like you were determined not to believe me, considering the mayor had just been robbed at the time. I called and called, but every time I was told an officer had been dispatched, no one ever showed up. I have to admit, I'm afraid this will all seem very anticlimactic now."

"We apologize ma'am, I can promise you if Hopps and I knew, you wouldn't have waited this long," Nick said, "Did dispatch ever tell you which officer should have been investigating?" Judy made an effort to not smirk at what she referred to as his "officer voice."

"No, I never did find out."

"Now Ms. Reedbuck, I know it's been a while, but what can you recall about the break in?" Judy asked, pen at the ready. "Can you walk us through it?"

Gwen led them through the cozy but neat condo. Late afternoon sun streamed through the windows. She had plants in ceramic pots next to mountains of paperwork. She stopped at the end of the hall by a bathroom. "I didn't notice anything really until I came into the bathroom that night. My window was open, which was not done by me, and when I tried to close it the lock was broken."

Judy nodded. "Nick, give me a lift?" she asked, gesturing out the window. They'd done it before, him holding her by the collar, dangling somewhere to get better access to evidence.

To her surprise, Nick balked. "You could fall," he blurted.

"How many times have we done this?"

Shaking his head at her flabbergasted expression, Nick picked her up the by her collar with some reluctance. With a white-knuckle grip on the window sill, he hoisted her outside and angled her so she had a clear view of the exterior wall. The latch had indeed been jimmied open from the outside. Someone must have been motivated to do so, as there was nothing on the outside save for a three-story drop into a bed of rose bushes. Her eyes trailed downward, and there it was –

"Claw marks," Judy said, "Nick, give me your phone, your camera's better."

"Can't."

"Why?"

"I forgot it in my locker when a certain bunny was distracting me."

Judy huffed but pulled her own phone from her back pocket. Snapping pictures, she continued, "Someone scaled this wall. Someone small, judging from the size of the marks. There's no way you'd see it from ground level though, it's so subtle… they seem buffed, like whoever it was had attempted rub off the marks and blend it back in with the brick, maybe with sandpaper? Definitely covering their tracks."

"Anything else?"

"Nothing," Judy said, and without further word Nick pulled her back through the window. Gwen was watching her, her face taut.

"Did you notice anything else? Anything stolen or vandalized?" Judy pressed.

"Nothing valuable, but that's what I find odd," Gwen said, "my toiletry cabinet seemed like it had been rummaged through. I noticed it immediately, I normally keep it quite organized. And – you may laugh at me for this, but it's true – the only other strange thing I noticed was that my fur brush was quite, well, clean."

Judy straightened an ear. "Clean?"

"Yes. All the fur had been picked out of it. It was spotless. I consider myself a neat mammal, but I'm not _that_ neat."

Nick's eyes darted to hers, and she knew what he was thinking. It had been Gwen's fur that was found at the mayor's house.

"Thank you Ms. Reedbuck," Judy said, jotting down the last of her notes. "If you don't mind, Officer Wilde and I will complete another sweep around your condo before we leave."

Gwen nodded. "Absolutely, officer."

As Reedbuck left, Judy turned back to Nick. He was sniffing the fur brush with a slight frown. "It's an odd detail that her fur was missing, since that's what was found at the mansion," she murmured, "but – "

"But she would have had plenty of time to concoct the story," Nick finished for her, still frowning at the brush. "She's had plenty of time to concoct this whole thing. It's not like we could use the evidence anyway, not when this allegedly happened, what, almost three weeks ago?"

"But why would she make it up? You would think she'd have gone to the press by now if her motive was to undermine Lionheart…"

Nick grunted, just as stumped as she was. He dropped the brush in an evidence bag and followed her into the living room, where Gwen Reedbuck was perched on a mid-century sofa. Judy glanced at the wall behind her, which held a large, abstract painting. She was no art critic, but Judy found herself admiring the wild strokes and bold colors. It was certainly better than the pretentious self portraits at Mayor Lionheart's home, at any rate.

"We have a few more questions for you, but I have to say, I _love _that painting," Judy said.

Gwen glanced at it. "Why thank you, I painted that one myself, actually."

"Really? Wow, you've got quite a talent, I wish I could do something like that!"

Nick joined her side and cocked his head at the painting. "Interesting… you an artist turned politician or a politician turned artist?"

"Artist turned politician. Quit school, used to live in a loft above a gallery, the whole nine yards. I only became interested in politics a few years ago. Because of my mother."

"Was she involved?" Judy asked.

"No. It was her passing that motivated me, actually," Gwen said lightly, "She was in a severe accident and was taken to the hospital. When my father got there, the hospital staff wouldn't let him visit her. Only family allowed, and my parents never married. Or rather, they weren't allowed to. They were a different species, you see."

Gwen plucked a picture frame from side table and handed it to Judy. Feeling Nick curl over her shoulder to get a closer look, Judy gazed at the picture in her paws. It was of a female antelope and a male zebra, sitting together at a picnic table. The zebra was holding a birthday cake to the camera, laughing along with the antelope next to him, both of them looking radiantly happy.

"Because they couldn't legally be married, my father never got to see my mother before she passed away."

Judy's jaw dropped and she snapped her head up to look at Gwen. Her ears collected in the crook where Nick's neck met his shoulder.

"All over a stupid piece of paper," Gwen continued, "It destroyed my father. He hasn't been the same since. After she died I promised him I wouldn't stand by and let this happen to other mammals. I petitioned Lionheart for years but no one listened, so I got a degree, I joined local government, and here we are."

Gwen took the photo back, gazing at her parents for a moment before putting it back on the table. "Conservative mammals argue that interspecies marriage isn't natural, but really, what's more natural than one mammal loving another?"

Nick shifted behind Judy and her ears moved with him. Suddenly very aware of how close they were, heat crept up Judy's neck and her paw darted to yank her ears down and away from him.

"Other districts have done it," Reedbuck said, all business. "Legalized it. They've seen no decrease in same-species marriages, no decrease in birth rates. The offspring of these couples are just as happy as the all the other children. It's only fear and narrow-mindedness holding this city back."

"We're not the ones you need to convince, Miss Reedbuck," Nick said.

Reedbuck snorted and glanced out her window where the protesters had been. "Right. I do attract quite the crowd."

"Listen, Miss Reedbuck," Judy said, "I apologize again on behalf of the ZPD for not following up on this sooner. We'll bring this back to the prescinct and follow up – I promise you, we'll get to the bottom of this."

As soon as the words at left her mouth, there was a electric _hiss _and the power in the apartment abruptly went out. The only light left was from the setting sun and the aromatic candles in the apartment. Behind her, Nick snorted, his breath rustling her ears. "Wow Carrots, that was dramatic," he muttered.

Judy snatched her flashlight from her belt. "It wasn't me - "

"I'm so sorry about that," Reedbuck said. She groped for a wall in the dark. "Sometimes with all the residents it overruns the circuits, I can check the breakers."

"I don't think it's the residents' fault," Nick said, pointing out the window with his own flashlight.

Judy and Reedbuck looked outside. The entire city was dark. It wasn't just the condo that had lost power. All of Savannah Central had.


	7. Chapter 7

The sun was nearly down by the time they'd finished questioning Reedbuck. With the power not yet restored, the normally bustling streets were quiet and dark. Though Nick had lived in it his entire life, it made the city feel eerie and unfamiliar.

"At least those protesters are gone," Judy said, glancing around.

"It looks like they left us a parting gift though," Nick replied darkly.

He pointed his flashlight to the cruiser and Judy gasped. It was covered from top to bottom in papers that, upon closer inspection, were propaganda pamphlets. "I guess they didn't exactly love what we had to say," Nick said lightly.

Judy plucked one off of the windshield. Her eyes widened. "These... these are awful," she murmured.

Nick snatched the pamphlet out of her paw. It read _PREDATOR AND PREY: ALL FUN AND GAMES 'TIL SOMEONE GETS BIT_ in bold letters. "Exactly why you should find some better reading material - I have a paperwork mountain on my desk that has you name on it."

Judy still looked troubled. Even after over a year on the force, she still seemed surprised by the depths other mammals could sink. "Nick… you know I don't believe any of this anti-interspecies stuff, right?"

Nick blinked. She was watching him closely, nose twitching with worry. "Yeah, I know that."

"I mean it," she continued, "I should have shut that woman down before but I didn't, it was just so scared I was going to say the wrong thing again – "

"Chill out, it's okay – "

"I just never want you to think that I wouldn't… that I think any of this is wrong or weird – "

"_Carrots_," he said firmly, "Don't get your ears in a knot. You're a good mammal. The best one I know. I know you don't think that way, alright? The only thing backwards about they way you think is what your definition of good music is, but as far as character flaws go that's pretty minor."

The tension in her ears seemed to ease a bit, and she smiled softly. "Just for that we're listening to Gazelle's first album all the way home."

He was about to toss the pile of pamphlets he'd gathered onto the ground when Judy snapped, "Nick!"

Nick nearly jumped out of his fur. "What?" he gasped, paw going for his tranquilizer gun.

"You can't just toss those on the ground, that's littering!"

He holstered his gun and glared at her. "_Really? _What are you gonna do, fine me?"

"Don't think I won't!"

Nick gaped at her. Her hands were on her hips, defiant. Rolling his eyes, Nick made a show of opening the trunk of the cruiser and theatrically dumping the pamphlets inside. "There, I'll throw them out when I get home. Happy now?"

Judy gave him a haughty look. "Yes, very. Thank you."

Nick stooped into an exaggerated bow. "Anything for you."

Judy snorted and quickly turned away. Before she did, Nick thought he caught - surely his night vision wasn't playing tricks on him? - the start of a blush on her cheeks. He had the sudden urge to ask her what she was doing tonight. Their shift was over, and with the power out they couldn't exactly log any work at the station anyway. They were friends, there was nothing wrong with asking…

They both heard it. Their ears turned to the noise before their bodies did. Someone was moving in the darkness of the alley next to them, and whoever it was was close. Judy reached for her tranquilizer gun, but Nick reached for her. He slung her behind him, forcing her between him and the cruiser, shielding her from view. It wasn't protocol by any means – Judy's indignant squeak at losing her line of sight made that clear – but it was instinct. He pulled his own tranquilizer gun now, eyes scanning the alley before them.

"Nick, what are you _doing_ – "

"I don't see anyone – "

"Well I definitely don't, since you're standing right in front of me!"

"Would you cool it for a second?"

"No! This isn't the right way you provide cover, Nick, this is how you get shot – by me or someone else!"

He held very still and scanned the area around him. The unnatural dark and stillness of the streets had him on edge.

"You know what, how about we have this argument somewhere where we have less of a chance of being murdered?" he hissed.

With a glare, Judy pushed him off of her and bolted into the cruiser. After one last look down the alley, Nick followed. His tail had barely touched the seat when she burst out, "What was _that_ all about?"

"I don't know, I never saw who it was, it could have just been someone in the wrong place at the wrong time - "

"Not that," Judy snapped, "why did you swoop in front of me like I'm some damsel in distress?"

Nick reeled. "What are you talking about?"

"What else am I supposed to think? Do you think I'm not a good enough cop? You think because I couldn't get out of the way of that rhino that I can't handle danger anymore?" she cried.

"What? No, of course I don't think that, how could I? I spend my whole day with you, I know you could kick my tail six ways from Sunday if you wanted – "

Judy threw her paws in the air. "Then what? What's gotten in to you lately? The rhino, the window, and now this – why are you acting like I'm breakable?"

_Because I can't lose you_. "Because you're my friend, alright? How do you think it would make me feel if something happened to you?" he shot back, hoping she'd buy it.

She did not. Her eyes were nearly popping out of her head. "How do you think it made _me _feel when you took that rhino hit instead of me? It was hours until I knew if you were going to be okay, do you have any idea what that was like? You can't just go putting yourself between me and everything out there, I don't know what I would do if something like that happened again!"

"So what, I'm just supposed to kick back and watch you get pulverized?" Nick said, struggling to keep his voice level.

"No, you're supposed to trust that I can do my job just as well as anyone else! I know the risks, I know what I got myself into – I thought you did too!"

Judy's ears were trembling as she stared at him. Nick reached down and snatched up his travel mug. "So you think I thought this whole cop thing was just going to be a fun little romp, did you?" he grumbled, bringing the cold coffee to his muzzle. He didn't actually want to drink it, he just wanted a distraction before he did something stupid, like spill everything to her.

"That's not what I said and you know it, Nick – "

The hint of something very unlike coffee hit Nick's nose. He froze.

"Carrots - "

"Oh, don't you _'Carrots'_ me, Nicholas Piberious Wilde – "

"_Judith Laverne Hopps_ then," Nick snapped, "if you care to stop giving me the third degree for a moment, I'd like to alert you to the fact that there's something in my drink."

Judy blinked. "Something in your – what?"

"There's something in my coffee that wasn't there this morning. Something that smells incredibly like that drug we're chasing down." He unscrewed the cap. Judy frowned at him in the darkness, but pulled out her flashlight and aimed it into the mug. She gasped, and Nick's fur stood on end.

The coffee was blue.

"Someone was in this car," she said, as calmly as if she was commenting that the grass was green.

Nick slammed the lid back on. "And they could get back in if they wanted. We need to go, now."

Judy jammed the keys in the ignition. "We can't go back to the station. Not with the electricity out, we won't even be able to check in the cruiser."

"My place then." Nick checked over his shoulder. "If we're being followed I don't want them knowing where you live."

"Why is it any better if they know where you live?" she challenged.

Nick gestured to himself. "Ex-hustler, remember? Every mammal in the under belly knows where I live whether I like it or not. If it gets too hot I'll just move."

She looked like she was building up a protest. But to his extreme relief, Judy didn't argue. The spitfire from their previous argument seemed to have drained from her as they drove to his apartment. Her ears were tense, her mouth pursed. He realized he would have preferred the arguing. Nick checked their mirrors for a tail like he had a nervous tic, but he never saw the same car more than once.

Judy maintained her reticence even as Nick was leading her into his dark apartment. After he triple checked the locks, he turned to find her peeking out his window. "It's okay, Fluff. Trust me, I've been followed before. No one was after us."

She turned to face him. Her voice shook slightly as she said, "Someone was in our car. Nick, someone tried to _poison _you."

"Key word being 'tried.' It's okay."

"No, it's definitely not okay. What were we _just_ talking about?"

He looked at her, both guilty and thankful for the night vision that allowed him to soak her in without anyone judging. "I know, but nothing happened to either of us. Just sit down and try to relax, alright? It's been a long, weird day. I'll find us some light."

He rummaged through a drawer until he found a bright blue candle in the shape of the number four.

"And why do you have a candle for a toddler's birthday party in your apartment?" Judy asked, the firelight dancing in her eyes.

Nick let out a sigh. "Look, I should have told you this a long time ago… but… I have a son."

"_What?_" Judy blurted.

Nick burst out laughing at her face, which instantly went from utter shock to extreme irritation. "I can't believe you fell for that, Carrots, you're supposed to be a cop! C'mon, it's just a dumb prop Finnick and I used for a hustle involving his pretend 'birthday party.'"

"Well gee, I'm sorry I missed it," she snapped.

He was about to ask her when she thought his sarcastic streak had rubbed off on her when he caught the look on her face. The irritation had disappeared and was replaced with the same, strained look she'd had since they'd been in the cruiser.

Her unease unsettled him, and he found himself desperately compensating. He poured her a glass of wine she did not ask for and handed her a blanket he wasn't sure if she needed. It had been a long time since he'd had anyone to comfort or protect – had he ever, really? – and he felt like he was stumbling through the process.

Soon Judy was staring at him with those wide eyes, untouched wine in her paws and swathed in a blanket several sizes too big for her. She did not seem remotely more at ease. So at last Nick did what instinct had been urging him to do and sat next to her on the couch.

This seemed to have an immediate effect. The rigidness of her ears relaxed slightly, and with a sigh she leaned into his side. Nick made an effort to not read too far into it. They had, after all, sat together on this couch many times before, and it was not unprecedented for Judy to fall asleep against his shoulder. But a fully aware bunny, candlelight, and two glasses of wine were not usually involved. Nick sipped from his glass in an attempt to settle his short-circuiting nerves.

"Have you ever broken into a car?" Judy asked suddenly.

Nick raised an eyebrow at her. "Now if I had a nickel for every time someone asked me that…"

"I'm serious."

"_Technically, _no. But I may have distracted a few mammals while _Finnick _broke into a car. Or two."

"Could he make it look like no one had broken into it?"

"Older cars, sure. Newer cars are more of a smash and grab job."

"Did he ever break into a police car?"

Nick snorted. "As much as he would have loved to, no. ZPD's cruisers are pretty tight. There's no way he could have picked those locks. But oh boy, if he'd gotten behind the wheel of a cruiser – "

"There was no sign of forced entry in our cruiser. So someone would have had to have a key."

"But you had the keys the whole time we were at Reedbuck's."

Judy took a deep breath. "Bogo has access to all the cruiser keys. Even the spares."

Nick angled his head to look down at her. Her wide eyes were reflecting the flickering candle.

"Just so we're on the same page here…" he said slowly, "You're saying Bogo broke into our cruiser and slipped something in my coffee?"

"Maybe not Bogo. He could have given the key to someone else."

"What are you getting at, Carrots? Buffalo Butt he may be, but Bogo gave us both second chances, I don't exactly wan to go around accusing him of – "

"I'm not accusing anyone yet. Bogo and Lionheart are friendly. There's a picture of the two of them in Bogo's office. And Bogo was the one who got him out of prison so fast after we broke the Nighthowler case."

Nick stared at his glass in silence. Judy pressed on, "It would explain why Reedbuck's case was signed off on when nobody went. It would explain why someone had the keys to our cruiser. It would explain why we keep feeling like we were set up, because he knows where we'd be…"

She trailed off as her wide eyes sought his. Reluctantly, Nick looked back at her.

"But _why _though?"

"Discrediting Reedbuck helps Lionheart win."

"Right, but what good does setting us up do?"

Judy picked at the blanket. "I don't know, but Lionheart did want to use the photo from the attack for his campaign."

"And slipping something in my coffee?"

Defeated, Judy flopped her head back against the crook of his shoulder. Pressed closer against him. "I have no idea. I don't really feel like I have any idea about anything right now."

One of her arms was pinched between the two of them. Judy slid it free and curled it so her forearm was nestled against him, the back of her paw resting on his chest. Nick swallowed and wondered if that meant she could now feel the way his heart was rocketing. If she couldn't feel it she must certainly hear it, with her ears so close to his muzzle.

"Aw, c'mon, that's not the bunny I know," Nick said, "Spill it."

Judy sighed, staring at her wine. "I don't know. This case. All these weird circumstances. Someone trying to slip something on you. None of it makes sense."

"Wouldn't be a case if it all made sense right away. We should know that better than anyone. I mean, missing mammals? Come on, who saw Bellwether coming? I definitely didn't, if running for our lives through a museum was any indication," Nick watched her, watched the way her nose twitched. "Is that all, or is there more to it?"

"That's… that's another thing. The missing mammals case. I just… I thought… I thought things would be different after that. I thought there'd be more acceptance. More progress. But after what we saw today, with all those protesters – "

Slowly, tentatively, Nick wrapped an arm around Judy's shoulders. He waited, tense, for her to question it, or maybe even shake it off. But when she merely sagged against him, he relaxed. "You can't let a pawful of losers with no day job color your view of the city, Carrots. Trust me, this is coming from a former loser with no day job."

Judy huffed out a small laugh. "You were never a loser." Nick teetered his paw back and forth. "You definitely did not have a day job though," she added.

Nick laughed at that. She looked up at him, the candlelight was reflecting in her eyes.

"It's just that I haven't been able to stop thinking about what Gwen said. About her dad, and how he couldn't see his wife before she died. When you were in the hospital they wouldn't let me see you for hours, they wouldn't even tell me if you were going to be okay. It was awful. So I can't even imagine if you and I were... and if you hadn't - "

"Hey," he murmured, squeezing her shoulder, "It's alright. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

"Why can't mammals just love who they love?" she whispered.

Her tiny paw fisted in his shirt.

And suddenly her cheek was pressing into his chest, nuzzling, and his paw tightened on her shoulder so that there was no way she couldn't feel his claws. Her eyes were closed, but the tip of her muzzle was tracing its way up his chest, his neck, to the top of his throat. A strangled noise, something between a whine and growl, rumbled from his chest of its own volition, and the next thing he knew he was tugging Judy close and pushing his nose into the hollow of her ear, producing the most _incredible_ sound from her –

_Tap tap tap_.

The knock on the door was soft, but it might as well have been a trumpet into the silence. Judy jerked so hard she cleared air beneath her and Nick. He wasn't even sure that she'd touched the ground before lunging for the gun on her utility belt. Nick, still clutching his chest and willing his bristling tail to calm down, jumped off the couch after her. Despite feeling as though he'd been clubbed over the head, he landed on silent paws and grabbed her shoulders as her fingers curled around the tranquilizer gun.

She froze beneath his grip. They locked eyes, chests heaving. Nick held a finger to his muzzle and made a shushing gesture. Judy nodded but shoved the gun into his paw just the same. He wondered if whoever was stalking them was dumb enough to knock on their door first. Turning, Nick slunk to the door, years of creeping down alleys and hallways paying off in the stealthy silence of a predator. He held his nose to the door and sniffed carefully. He didn't know who he was expecting, but he was certainly not expecting –

"Finnick?"

"Yo fox, open up," came the muffled voice on the other side of the door.

He glanced over his shoulder at Judy, who was staring back at him in complete bewilderment. Frowning, Nick opened the door a crack, which was all Finnick needed to slip inside.

Nick slapped his paw in hello. "Wasn't expecting you bud, everything alright?"

"I tried calling you at least five times, you wouldn't answer your damn… phone…"

Finnick trailed off as he took in the scene before him. His eyes traveled from Nick to Judy, to the candle and to the two glasses of wine. He glanced at Nick from the corner of his eye. "Am I, uh, _interrupting_ something?"

"No," Nick and Judy's voices rang out at the same time.

Finnick smirked. The look in his eye suggested that whatever was going to come out of his mouth next was something that he, Nick, would not want Judy to hear, so Nick jumped in quickly. "I left my phone at the precinct. What's got you wound up enough that you called me five times and went out in a blackout to talk to me? Miss me that much? Need a bedtime story?"

Finnick shot him a dark look. "Save it. You should be kissing my tail the way I'm sticking my neck out for you right now. I got some of the dirt you were looking for last time we talked."

"You two talked?"

Nick felt his insides freeze at Judy's question. When he looked at her she was staring back him with wide eyes and a face that was difficult to read.

"Aw, did Wilde here not tell you he's been sneaking around with me in his off hours?" Finnick chuckled, "Shame on you, buddy. You shouldn't lie to your girlfriend, I hear they don't like that."

Nick's ears flattened. "Finn – "

Finnick turned to Judy. "Don't worry sweetheart, there weren't any women involved, vixen or… otherwise. He definitely wanted an earful on some blue street dope, though – "

"_Finnick," _Nick hissed through gritted teeth, only just managing to keep a low growl corralled in his chest, something he'd never, ever had to do when talking to Finnick before, "If this is all you came here to say – "

"No."

Judy stepped forward. She ignored Nick and focused solely on Finnick. "You know something about the drugs?"

Finnick, who had still been staring at Nick with a look that bordered on disappointment, finally looked at her. "I might."

"You've come pretty far out of your way just to tease," Judy challenged.

Finnick sized her up. "Alright rabbit, listen up, and listen up good. You didn't hear this from me, you got me?"

"Scout's honor," Nick drawled.

"That drug you were on about, the Blues," Finnick continued, dropping his voice, "this isn't your standard street shit. It's addictive as hell, apparently. Mammals are getting hooked after one or two hits. But they're overdosing just as quick – once enough of that stuff builds up in their system, it's making them nuts. Violent. We're talking rich mammals here – that's all who can afford it without stealing it – CEOs losing their minds and attacking their wives, their kits. Like they're – "

"_Savage,_" Nick hissed, turning to Judy.

She grabbed his wrist. "The _night howlers_," she breathed.

Finnick continued, "Mammals are getting hurt." There was a pause, and then he added, "_Big _mammals, if you catch my drift."

Nick frowned at him, but Judy was quicker. "You're not… you don't mean _Mr. Big_, do you?" she asked hesitantly.

Finnick produced a toothpick from his pocket and gnawed on the end. "His daughter, actually."

Judy's paw tightened painfully on Nick's wrist. "_Fru Fru? _Is she hurt? What happened? Where is she? _What can I do?_" Judy demanded.

"Whoa, pump the brakes, rabbit. Ya didn't hear it from me, but word on the street is her husband overdosed. Turned on her and the litter. Daddy wasn't too pleased, if you know what I mean."

"But is she okay?"

Finnick shrugged. "Don't know. Family's keeping it quiet."

Judy was biting her lip. Nick ran a consoling thumb over her knuckles and muttered, "Don't worry Carrots, we'll get in touch with her… we've got our ways, don't we?" At Judy's shaky smile, he nodded and turned to Finnick.

"The small time guys we've been picking up with the Blues on them," Nick asked him urgently, "they're middlemen?"

Finnick nodded. "Gotta be. They get a cut. Ol' Duke asked me if I wanted a job delivering, but I turned him down. I don't need some suit clawing my face in two."

"So Duke's involved. Did he say what the source was?"

"Nope. I asked him man, but he was zipped tight about it. Doesn't matter now, heard one of your kind locked him up earlier today."

Nick smirked. "Duke was arrested? Any idea which officer pulled him in?"

"Heard it was some tiger lady. Wish I'd seen it, I guess he asked her if she was single and she nearly knocked him into last week."

"Ah, that would be Fangmeyer," Nick sighed happily, "Just picture it, Fluff – "

But with an ear twitch, Judy dashed to the kitchen. When she returned the coffee mug was in her paws. She placed it under Finnick's nose. "What do you make of this, is this the same stuff? The Blues?"

Frowning, Finnick eyed it. Gave it a sniff. "Smells a hell of a lot like what Duke had on him. What's it doing in your coffee, rabbit?"

"It was Nick's coffee, actually. We think someone spiked it."

Finnick's ears flicked back in alarm. Startled, he looked at Nick. "Well whoever did that is no friend of yours, Wilde. Does uh… does this kind of stuff happen to you often?"

Nick shrugged. "Attempted poisoning, no. Special treatment of the negative persuasion for being the turncoat fox cop? A bit."

Nick waited for some kind of smart remark back from Finnick, but instead the other fox just looked troubled. He turned to Judy. "How much trouble is he really attracting?"

"Enough. But don't worry, I keep an eye on him," Judy said, smirking.

"And you still want to go back out there and figure this out, fox? After someone tried to poison you?" Finnick asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah. Probably even more so now, if that's possible."

Finnick was looking at him as though Nick had grown a second tail. "But _why?_"

Nick shrugged. "Well we've got to, haven't we? If there's some maniac out there ready to poison a cop, imagine what they could do to someone else? C'mon Finn, you've seen what can happen in the gutter, you know how bad it can get."

Finnick stared at him before glancing at Judy, which caused his ears to flick back. Confused, Nick turned to Judy as well, only to find her looking at him with an expression so soft and warm that Nick suddenly had to urge to throw Finnick bodily from the apartment and get back to doing… whatever it was that he and Judy were doing before his old partner got here.

But as he looked at her a second realization hit him, one that seemed to douse the warmth in his chest with something ice cold…

Finnick still looked ill at ease. "Listen Wilde, if you're still getting scat from the wrong mammals, just… just give me a ring, hear? I'll, ya know, I'll – "

"You'll call the cops?" Nick asked snidely.

Finnick responded with a rude hand gesture. "You know I didn't have to come here at all, idiot."

"That's what you said last time. You're running out of excuses, Finn. If I didn't know any better I'd say you're kind of into all this cop stuff."

Finnick turned for the door. "Not if it's going to get me poisoned," he said darkly. His eyes darted from Nick, to the candles, and then to Judy. He smirked. "Just remember to play safe, kids."

With that he slipped out the door. Nick groaned and ran a paw down his muzzle. "I bet you thought you'd never meet another fox as charming as me, huh?" he drawled.

"He's… rough around the edges," Judy conceded, "but he's more like you than you think. He has a good heart."

Nick's paw flopped lifelessly to his side. "_Finnick? _You think that twisted little black heart of his is _good_? How much wine did you have?"

"He cares about you."

"That's truly heartwarming. Woefully misguided, but heartwarming."

Judy shrugged. "You saw how worried he was when he heard you'd almost been poisoned. Plus he took a risk to help you right tonight – and, well, the other night too I guess. "

Nick's stomach gave a guilty turn as Judy busied herself putting her tranquilizer away. "Look, Carrots – Judy. I was just asking him about that Blues drug, I swear – "

"It's fine."

"I should've told you."

"It's fine."

"Aw, c'mon. Only an idiot believes a woman when she say's '_it's fine.'_"

"It's _fine_, Nick," Judy said, still not looking at him. "You don't have to tell me everything. It's not like we're… well, you know."

Unsaid things hung heavily in the air between them. Whatever spark had been between them earlier was gone. Nick watched her, a million things on the tip of tongue but none of them willing to come out. It was only when Judy made for the door that he found his voice.

"Where are you going?"

Judy sighed. "Look, it's really late. I don't… I should go."

Cutting her off, Nick leaned against the door. "Yeah, right. Plant your little cottontail here. I'm not letting you out of my sight tonight, Carrots. I'm not in the mood to look for a new partner, it's too much work, you know my drink order and everything – "

Judy tapped her foot. She finally looked at him. "Nick, what are you talking about?"

The iciness from before surged through him. Nick sighed, the forced mirth slipping from his face. "Because it's not me that whoever's behind this is after. It's you."

"How do you figure?"

"First, that rhino was aiming for you, not me. Second, whoever snuck into our car put that drug in _my_ drink. Just mine, not yours. Someone who knew it was mine. Think about what Finn just told us it could do."

The _tap tap tap _of her foot stopped. He could see realization breaking across her face, the revulsion of it. When she refused to acknowledge it out loud, he did it for her.

"How long do you think you would've lasted trapped in a car with a savage fox?" he snapped bitterly.


	8. Chapter 8

"Nick. Wake up."

Nick cracked an eye open. Judy was standing before him, arms crossed. "Why would I want to do that?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep.

"Because we have jobs and we have to go to them."

"Correction: we _should _go to our jobs. We _have _to sleep."

Her foot was thumping now. "I tried contacting Fru Fru but no luck yet. And I just heard Grizzoli on the scanner say that Weaselton's already escaped. We have to get in there. C'mon, we'll miss our train."

"Weaselton? How… but your uniform – "

"I washed and ironed it before you got up."

Nick pushed himself up on his elbows, his arms sinking into the couch cushions. He'd made Judy take the bed. "How long have you been awake? The sun's barely up… wait, I have an iron?"

"I guess that explains why your lapels are always creased. Now let's go, up and at 'em!"

Judy bounced back into his room, where he could hear her grabbing his uniform. With a groan, Nick pushed himself the rest of the way up onto his paws and stretched, tongue rolling out into a yawn. The digital clock on the microwave was blinking at him from across the room, which meant the power had come back on at some point in the night.

Judy emerged from his room, throwing the lump of clothes at his chest. He caught it with a huff. She proceeded into his kitchen for a glass of water, her back to him. There was no indication as to whether or not she had any feelings, negative or otherwise, about last night's events.

Groaning, Nick got up to brush his teeth.

Judy treated him with a sort of forced politeness the entire way to the station. He supposed it was her way of making things less awkward, though he couldn't really claim it was successful. The strange formality between them was everything he'd feared about attempting to push past "just friends." Well, maybe not everything – he supposed a theatrical rejection in front of the entire precinct would have been worse. Then again they hadn't reached the precinct yet, so there was still time, he thought with a bitter roll of his eyes.

But she did no such thing. Instead they entered the station in silence, though the atrium was anything but. Francine was towering over Clawhauser's desk, and the two appeared to be in an animated discussion. As soon as he spotted them, Clawhauser gestured frantically. "Judy – Judy Judy _Judy! _Come here, Judy!"

"Call it a hunch but I think Clawhauser wants to talk to you," Nick drawled out of the corner of his mouth.

Judy skipped quickly to the desk. Maintaining his leisurely pace, Nick only just caught up when the three of them let out an excited squeal. Nick flicked his ears down, wincing.

"One note higher and only bats could hear you," he muttered.

Clawhauser lunged forward, splaying his paws on his desk. He was radiating excitement. "Memo to the whole station – Mayor Lionheart's invited us all to a police force benefit this Saturday! Black tie and everything! There will be dancing, and fancy snacks, and gossiping, and photographers – "

"And campaigning, and fundraising, and political agenda…" Nick added sarcastically, ticking them off on his fingers.

"Oh, don't be such a stick in the mud," Judy said, rolling her eyes at him. He didn't care that she was critical, at least she was talking to him again. "You were the same way about the Gazelle concert and look how much fun you had. You even danced."

"That's right, you did!" Clawhauser said, pointing at him. "I think I still have the video on my phone – "

Nick pointed back at him. "If you don't want to find that phone in the permafrost in Tundratown I suggest you delete that video – "

"I'm just excited to dress up, I _never _get to dress up," Francine sighed. "Judy, what are you wearing? Wait, more importantly, who are you _bringing?_ If you need someone I've got my little black book…"

Nick thought he saw Clawhauser glance his way, but when he looked, Clawhauser was simply jotting a text with both thumbs.

"TBD on both, Francine," Judy said, forcing a strained laugh, "I need to make sure I _have _a dress, let alone decide which one – "

"_Wilde!_"

They all jumped at Bogo's echoing summons. The chief was leaning out of his office, an ominous expression on his face, beckoning at Nick. Wondering what he could have possibly done since his last dressing down, he glanced at Judy. She shrugged back at him, confused. Without looking at the others, he followed Bogo into the chief's office.

* * *

Judy frowned as Nick disappeared behind the door. Was this about accepting Grizzoli's work on Reedbuck? Not returning the cruiser on time? Distracted, she waved to Francine and Clawhauser and headed to the break room. She might as well grab Nick a peace-offering coffee now; one part to smooth over whatever Bogo had to say, but another part to tell him that whatever door had been opened between them last night was not going change what they had.

Fangmeyer and Wolford were in the break room, as well as Grizzoli and Delgato. That latter two, who had been in the middle of some conversation, stopped abruptly when she came in. Giving them a quizzical look, she said, "My ears are ringing, guys, and that's saying something… what's up?"

Grizzoli raised an eyebrow at her as Delgato went still. "You… you don't _know_, Hopps?"

She frowned. Glancing about the room, Fangmeyer and Wolford at least looked as confused as she was. "About… Weaselton?"

"Yeah. And about Wilde."

Her ears went rigid. "What about him?"

"Really, maybe you should just hear it from him…"

She refrained from thumping her foot. "Seriously, what's going on?"

Grizzoli sighed. "Okay, I really didn't want to be the one to break this to you, but… well, old habits die hard, apparently."

"Hopps, your partner has been dipping his toes back in the criminal pool. All signs are pointing to Wilde being involved in the whole thing."

There was a pronounced beat of silence before Judy laughed. Now it was Grizzoli's turn to look confused. "Nick? Let _Weaselton_ free? You can't be serious. I know you must've had a long night, are you sure you got enough sleep? Just check the security footage, I'm sure – "

"That's just it. There is none – he escaped during the power outage. None of the other inmates are talking."

"A little convenient, don't you think?" Delgato added with a meaningful look at her.

"Meaning?"

"His buddy Carl confessed everything."

"Who?"

"Carl, the wolverine Wilde let escape the day that rhino charged you. He works at the electric company, he and Wilde go way back apparently. You didn't know that?"

Judy shrugged. "No, but he knows everybody, it's not surprising. That doesn't mean he asked this Carl to set up a city wide power failure."

Grizzoli shrugged back. "You said it yourself to the mayor, you didn't know how a photographer could've gotten to the scene so fast. A set up explains that. Why else would Wilde let Carl get away so easily?"

"Grizzoli, come on," Judy said, blinking. "He let him go so I wouldn't get run over by that rhino."

"You both went to same academy. You know it's protocol for him to subdue the suspect. Besides, he of all mammals should know you have the training to have gotten yourself out of the way if you needed to."

"Protocol, please! You know everyone ignores protocol every now and then - look at me!" Judy cried, gesturing to herself. Wolford snorted.

"Calm down, Hopps, there's no reason to get torn up about it," Grizzoli said with placating paws, "Believe what you want, he's your partner, but just know his phone was filled with incriminating phone calls. Most of them to his old con buddy - Finnick, was it?"

"But that was just - wait, why were you looking through his phone?" Judy demanded.

"After Carl's confession Bogo believed we had reasonable cause to confiscate it. It was at the station after all."

"Bogo? Nick was trying to find a lead on the case!" Judy argued. "Besides, none of this matters, I know he wasn't at the cell block last night anyway."

Grizzoli raised his brow. "Yeah? Where was he?"

"He was with me. We were on the case."

"All night?"

All eyes were on her as the question and its implications hung uncomfortably in the air. Judy suddenly felt like she was in grade school again and getting teased by her classmates for sitting next to a boy during assembly. Willing her temper down, she took a deep breath and thrust her fists on her hips. "Yes, and?" she asked, scowling.

Delgato snickered as Grizzoli's brow managed to climb higher. "Well," Grizzoli said at last, "whatever alibi Wilde tries to use, it won't be that one. Testimony coming from a workplace relationship's a conflict of interest, Hopps, you know that. He's going to need another witness."

Judy hated that she could feel the hollows of her ears turning red. For a wild moment she pictured a projector behind her, replaying the way she'd practically crawled into Nick's lap to nuzzle him last night on a screen for all of them to see. She wondered if they could smell him on her. "The only 'workplace relationship' we have going on is that we're partners. End of story. And if you don't believe me, I think we're done talking for now," she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking with anger. At Grizzoli's ear twitch, she added with disdain, "Captain."

Grizzoli shrugged. "Dismissed."

Judy turned on her heel and marched away from them, Delgato's chuckles bordering on lewd. She passed Fangmeyer and Wolford without a word. Fangmeyer was looking at her, but with an expression that was much harder to place. Was it sadness or pity?

She was hoping to find Nick in their shared cubicle, but he was not there. Judy's stomach sank. The length of the chat with Bogo was usually directly correlated to how severe the chat itself was. The anger and adrenaline were ebbing now, leaving her feeling unusually tired. She collapsed into her chair. Her paws were shaking.

Was that really what the rest of the precinct thought of her and Nick? She racked her brain, thinking about their interactions at work since they'd become partners. Sure, they spent a lot of time together, but they were partners after all. They joked a lot, bickered a fair amount too. Maybe a few flirty comments here and there, but they were mostly from Nick and it was in his nature to tease.

It was only in the last few weeks that, if she was being honest with herself, things had gotten a little...well... different.

But nothing anyone could have picked up on at the office. Not that there was anything to pick up on.

Was there?

Last night had been a heat of the moment thing, she was sure of it. She'd been exhausted and emotionally drained. Not to mention how Reedbuck's story had rattled her, reminding her to powerfully about waiting for word of Nick in the hospital and wondering what she'd do if he wasn't by her side –

Her ears went limp. Suddenly Judy was finding it a little difficult to breathe normally.

With uncanny timing, Nick rounded the corner into their cubicle. He looked lost. His badge was missing. "I got suspended," he said blankly.

It was enough to jolt Judy out of her stupor. A gasp escaped her before she could stop it. "_What?_"

"Bogo suspended me," he repeated, "oh, but _with _pay. You know, because that makes it seem like a cute little vacation or something. I'm… I'm off the team until they finish an internal investigation. Judy, Bogo thinks I have something to do with this drug case. He thinks I set up that power outage and - "

"I - I know. Grizzoli told me."

Something flashed across Nick's face. "_Grizzoli_ told you? How did he know?"

"He said Carl made a confession to him that you asked him to set up the outage." Nick simply stared at her. She thought about what Grizzoli and Delgato had laid out, and she realized she need to hear it straight from Nick. Just to be sure. "He said you knew Carl. Do you?"

Nick's ears flicked back, almost like he'd been kicked. "I - well, yeah, I do, but I told you, I know everybody. But that day with the rhino was the first time I'd seen him in years, I haven't talked to him since. I didn't think I had to tell you, it was just a coincidence..."

When she remained silent his eyes grew wide and his breathing became quicker. Nick took a tentative step towards her. "Carrots... Judy. You're not... you believe me, don't you? You don't think I had anything to do with this, you _can't_ think that."

Her nose twitched. "Nick..."

His paws made a wild move as if he was about to grab her, but he held himself in check. His tail was flicking madly back and forth. With a deep, steadying breath, he leaned closer to her. "You and this job are the best things I have in my life right now," he whispered, his voice low, "The best things I've had in my life in a long, long time. I would _never_ do anything to mess either of these things up. It's not happening. Judy, you've got to believe me. You're the only one who ever does. Don't you trust me?"

Judy stared back at his desperate face. She thought about everything Grizzoli said. She thought about his years as a hustler. About how he knew Carl, about how he'd reached out to Finnick without telling her. She thought about the Finnick-sized claw marks outside of Reedbuck's window.

But she also thought about his refusal to leave her at the museum. About how he looked at her at his graduation. She thought about all the times he'd remained unquestioningly by her side during patrols, about how he'd show her things in the city she'd never seen simply because he thought she'd like them. About how warm and safe she felt in his arms last night. She thought about how he'd given her a second chance under the bridge, about how he'd pushed her out of the way before the rhino struck.

She looked him square in the eye. "Of course I do," she said.

Nick, who seemed to have been holding his breath, exhaled in a hoarse rush. "You do?"

She nodded. "You said you didn't do it and I believe you. You're my best friend, why would I think anything different?"

His shoulders sagged with tangible relief. With a delirious chuckle, Nick took her elbow and dragged her gently into a hug. Surprised but pleased with the unusual show of affection, Judy happily returned it. Unlike when they were at Reedbuck's condo, this time she didn't care that her ears settled into the crook of his neck. And apparently neither did he.

Soft but heavy footsteps were approaching. Judy and Nick hastily broke apart before Fangmeyer rounded the corner to their cubicle. She looked between them, her face carefully smooth.

"I'm here to escort you out, Wilde," she said quietly.

Nick's ears flicked back ever so slightly. It was amazing how such a tiny movement could make Judy's heart break in two. She chewed her lip, staring at Nick and feeling incredibly, impossibly helpless.

Nick cleared his throat. "I… yeah, sure."

"I'm really sorry about this," Fangmeyer muttered. She looked like she meant it.

"You know he didn't do it!" Judy burst out, unable to stop herself.

This time Fangmeyer truly did seem sad. "Bogo's orders."

Judy opened her mouth to protest, but Nick held up a paw. "It's okay, Carrots," he said, then added with a bitter smile, "It's not like it's the first time I've had a police escort, right?"

"Nick…"

But he just winked at her and left the room, Fangmeyer trailing behind him.

* * *

Nick shuffled out of the station, feeling numb. Fangmeyer padded silently behind him. She shifted slightly to his left, and he realized she was using her much larger body to shield him from view, to spare him from the stares of other officers and inmates. It was more than he deserved but he was exceedingly grateful for it.

At the base of the stairs she glanced over her shoulder. With no one looking, Fangmeyer muttered, "Bogo likes you. Hopps vouched for you in front of more than half the squad. Just... keep your head down during the investigation. Don't do anything foolish."

Nick attempted to say something to her but all that came out was a sort of grunt. Fangmeyer seemed to accept this as a satisfactory response, because she gave him a sharp nod and returned to the station with a swish of her tail. Nick looked up after her, alone.

Realizing how pathetic he'd look if he lingered much longer, Nick walked away aimlessly. It was a bright, sunny day, barely past noon, and he had no idea where to go or what to do. It wasn't like it was the first time he'd lost a job. He'd lost plenty over the years. Every attempt at a somewhat legitimate job had always managed to crash and burn somehow, but it had never bothered him until now. Because now he actually cared.

It had been so much easier when he didn't care. If this was before he would have found Finnick, had a laugh, blamed his ex-boss, and grabbed something to smoke or drink while discussing the next hustle. But this was now, and now he was back on the outside again, where he was just another shifty fox.

Whatever had happened last night, he - _the fox_ \- had been the first to blame for it. It didn't matter that his record had been spotless since he'd met Judy, that he'd gone to the academy just like all the others, that he wore a badge just like theirs. He'd always be a fox at the end of day, he'd always be a threat in the back of everyone's mind, he'd always be the one that others would say "Well, can't say I'm surprised!" about when he was accused. And there was nothing he could do about it, save from simply not being born. He could never, try as he might, change anyone's mind.

Except for Judy's. He'd managed to change her mind all those months ago. But maybe that was just because she was Judy, and she was made of good and hope and only saw the best in people. And even now, even after she'd said she believed him, she had still questioned him. Still hesitated before giving her verdict. She might believe him but he wasn't sure if he believed her. The idea of her doubt made him sick. He ran his paws over his ears and clenched the fur there in frustration.

He may not be able to convince anyone else of his innocence, but maybe he could convince her. At the end of the day, her opinion of him was the only one that mattered, really. It was certainly the only one he'd cared about in a long, long time. He supposed Judy wouldn't be that impressed by a solid wallow-in-self-pity-turned-bender. Maybe there was something he could do, even without a badge - it certainly hadn't stopped him on the missing mammals case, had it?

Fru Fru. Judy had been frantically texting her before work. She was still stuck at the station, but he wasn't. Without much conscious thought, Nick found his feet had carried him to outside of Little Rodentia. He knew enough about his days with Mr. Big to know where to look - it was midday, after all, Fru Fru's usual appointment time.

With great care, he stepped over the boundary, his claws barely clinking against the ground -

"FOX!"

Dozen of tiny shrieks echoed around him as various rodents pointed at him in horror. They scattered in all directions. Nick, who had not moved a muscle, rolled his eyes. At least they'd cleared the streets. He strolled more easily now - well, as easily as he could, given he ha to place one foot square in front of the other in order to squeeze down the small road. At least he found it, at the end of Whiskers Way: Tip to Tail Salon.

Nick crouched low to the ground and peered into the shop, his eye nearly taking up an entire window. Inside were several mice and shrews with bouffant hair of varying, staggering heights. He looked from chair to chair but did not see her. Clearing his throat, he asked as politely as he could, "Excuse me, ladies? Has anyone seen a woman who goes by Fru Fru? Big hair, usually carrying a lot of bags?"

There was a moment of silence where every woman in the salon turned to look at him. An instant later they all burst into screams, curlers and flat irons flying every which way. "Fox!" "_Fox!_" "Run, run for your lives!"

Nick grimaced and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, no one has to run for their lives, I'm not going to eat any of you. I couldn't - there's too much hairspray, I'd crack my teeth before I could swallow any of you. Now if you could just tell me where Fru Fru is, I just want to know if she's okay - "

"Nicky?"

Nick's head swiveled around. Fru Fru was standing behind him, pushing a stroller with one hand and clutching a large purse with the other. Even with her long sleeves he noticed several bandages slinking down to her wrists, and one running the length of her tail. A baby, little Judy, was sleeping soundly.

"Fru!" he cried with relief. He extended a single finger to her level for her to shake, but instead she embraced it in a tight hug.

"Oh Nicky, it's good to see you! Are you working right now? Where's Judy?"

"I uh, have off today," he said evasively, "Judy's working though. She's been trying to get a hold of you. We heard some... rumors, and just wanted to do a wellness check on our favorite shrew mom."

Fru Fru clasped her hands. "Oh, I saw that she texted me, I felt so terrible I couldn't respond, but Daddy said he didn't want anything on record! It's so sweet of you to make sure we were okay - " Fru Fru's eyes darted from him to the salon. Eyes narrowing, she beckoned him closer. "Let me get this straight," she hissed into his ear, "you heard that I'd been - that I'd been attacked, and you thought I'd be in a salon?"

Nick blinked. "Well, I don't know, I just thought it's what you did - "

"What's the matter with you?" she yelped, scandalized. She clipped him in the ear with her purse. "What kind of mother do you think I am? I was taking little Judy to therapy, I don't want this to be the thing she blames me for in thirty years!"

Nick flinched back and rubbed his ear. "Okay, okay, sorry! How was I supposed to know? This is more my Judy's - er, adult Judy's thing. Look, we were worried about you, and for good reason. You do look a little worse for the wear."

"Oh, I'm fine really, it looks worse than it is," Fru Fru said, glancing at her bandages.

"Glad to hear it. How's your other half?"

"My husband?" Fru Fru looked strained. "He's... he's okay. He's just really upset about, well, about everything. It wasn't his fault, he wasn't in his right mind, you see. It was his, um, his medication."

"Right. I mean hey, it happens to the best of us. This... medication though," Nick said, playing along, "do you happen to know anything about it? Where your husband got it from? Can't have medication like that being prescribed, obviously."

"He um, he got it from a doctor," Fru Fru replied, suddenly very interested in her baby.

"Naturally. You don't know this doctor's name by any chance, do you?"

Fru Fru looked up at him sadly. "Nicky... you know I can't."

Nick waved a paw. "Don't worry about it. She's cute, by the way." He pointed to little Judy, and Fru Fru beamed. "Judy and I are just trying to find out what we can. Whoever's handing out this medication is a threat. Look what it did to a nice guy like your husband."

"I know!" Fru Fru hissed. "It's just, well, he thought these ones were supposed to be okay. They were organic!"

"Organic?"

"Yeah, I guess they came from some sort of local farm or whatever."

Nick's ears shot upright. "Farm? What farm?" he asked sharply.

Fru Fru smoothed Judy's hair as the baby cooed. "I dunno. Sounded like one of the bunny ones, said it was a big family operation. Maybe Judy would know?"

"Yeah, maybe," Nick said, his mouth dry. "Look, Fru, you've been a lot of help to Judy and me, I mean it. I've got to go - say hi to your dad for me, alright?"

"Of course Nicky. Send my love to Judy!" She scooped up her own Judy and took the baby's paw to shake it in a small wave. "Say goodbye to Nicky, little Judy!"

Nick took off in a run. "And tell your husband to stay the hell away from that stuff!" he called over his shoulder.

* * *

Nick watched the station doors from the shadows. He needed to talk to Judy, but he couldn't predict whether she'd try to track him down at his apartment or simply return to hers after work. Unable to contact her and worried he'd make the wrong choice, he decided to wait for her shift to end. But he was pretty sure his suspension stipulated that he would get tasered within an inch of his life if he was found within fifty yards of the station, so instead slipped into the shadows of a nearby alley, out of sight from all the unsuspecting mammals around him.

It was unnerving how easily the ability to hide from the cops came back to him.

Nick was so busy watching a grizzly bear attempt to fit himself into a standard fauna taxi that he almost missed her. But there Judy was, at 5 o'clock on the dot, darting down the station stairs. He could tell even from a distance that she was tense. She was alone.

She crossed to his side of the street, just like he knew she would, to head toward the train. As soon as she was close enough, Nick leaned ever so slightly into the light and hissed, "Carrots!"

Judy nearly jumped out of her skin. With a gasp and a shocking amount of speed, she had her tranquilizer gun pointed directly at his chest.

Nick raised his paws in the air and smirked. "What, no fox spray?"

"Nick!" she gasped weakly. She holstered the gun and sagged against the brick of the building. "You took a year off my life just now, you know that?"

"Still afraid of the big bad fox?" There was a hint of bitterness there that he hadn't meant.

If she noticed it, she didn't comment on it. "Never," she said with a small punch to his shoulder. Then she exhaled in a rush, "Look, Francine and Clawhauser are on your side, I think Wolford and maybe Fangmeyer too. I talked to Bogo, he's starting the investigation now but I don't think he's convinced you did it either, I bet you he's going to reinstate you next week, there's just no evidence - ugh, today was the worst, it's so weird without you there... I was going to look for you at your apartment but they still have your phone, I didn't know where you'd be - wait a second, have you just been sitting in this alley all day?"

"Wow, remember to breath there, Carrots," Nick muttered, raising an eyebrow at her as she gasped for air. "And no, I didn't just 'sit in this alley all day,' thank you. I have a life outside of this job you know. I've been busy."

"Doing what?"

"Finding Fru Fru, for starters."

"She's okay?" Judy cried, bouncing happily in place.

"Mostly, and she had a lot to share..."

He relayed to her everything that Fru Fru had said (minus the part where he sent the neighborhood into a panic and looked for her in a salon). Judy's eyes had grown wide, then determined. "Well, city slicker," she said, "how'd you like to make your first trip to Bunnyburrow?"


	9. Chapter 9

Judy bounced ahead of Nick as they walked away from the train station and toward her parents' farm. The excited buzz of being home was starting to course through her, and it was only amplified by getting to show it to Nick for the first time. It was enough to dull the confusion she'd felt towards him since the other night.

"So if you went down this road you'd go to my old school… the other way is the doctor I went to my whole life. Oh, and over here is where my brother Jacob stepped out in front of a turnip truck once. He almost lost a leg, lucky it was so close to the doctor's…"

Unable to stop herself, Judy pointed again. "Ooooh, and here's where they put a hot chocolate stand at the holidays, it's so rich, it's like chocolate cement but in a good way… oh! Down this road is where the Carrot Days Festival is, look, you can see they're starting to set things up…"

Realizing she hadn't heard so much as a peep from Nick, she turned. Nick had one paw in his pocket and the other clinging to their duffle that was slung over his shoulder. He was watching her with a warm, silly grin. "Okay, okay," Judy said, spreading her arms out, "Make fun of the hick bunny in her natural habitat. Go on, get it out of your system so I can go back to enjoying myself without shame."

"I wasn't going to make fun of you," he said baldly.

Judy waited for the follow up, for the punch line. But he simply continued to smile serenely and shook his paw at her, "Well, go on, tour guide. Tell this city fox what happens over yonder."

Judy grinned.

Unfortunately, his good mood seemed to wilt under the shadow of her parents' farm. It came into view as they rounded a corner, all endless expanse and comfort and familiarity. Home.

"You do remember the last time your parents saw me you were hungover and I was strolling out of your bedroom."

"Yes Nick."

"And they have no idea we're about to show up on their doorstep?"

"No, Nick."

"And all your siblings are going to be there."

"A decent amount of them."

"And none of them know you work with a fox?"

"Nick, I told you, some of them do, how many times have you been there when I've called home?"

She knew she had to be confident for his sake. Have faith in her family. She wanted to have faith in them – she loved them, and it crushed her to think that someone she loved would accidentally let something slip, would utter a careless but devastating remark –

There was a rustling in the mulberry tree above them. Judy looked up, dodging a berry that had been shaken loose. A sandy-furred bunny boy stared down at her with wide eyes. "Hey! JUDY'S _HOME!" _he hollered at the top of his lungs.

Judy rolled her eyes. "Great. Thanks for the subtlety, Terry."

With that, a dozen plus voices rang out from all angles. "_Bunny pile!"_

Judy braced herself. In the next moment, bunny after bunny leapt onto her, tackling her straight to the ground in a heap of giggles and excited cries of hello. She tried to touch them all as the dust settled, laughing back at them, surprised to be on the receiving end of a tradition she used to love literally jumping into.

"Ten nine nine, officer down…" she heard Nick mutter from somewhere above them. He bent over, peering at her between two of her siblings. "Do you need backup?"

Her siblings scurried off of her in an instant to face him, their eyes wide. Nick took a step back at the sudden influx of attention. Judy held her breath as the younger ones took him in. After several heartbeats, there was an outburst of chatter:

"A fox!"

"Wait, who is this?"

"Gideon, is that you?"

"That's not Gideon, stupid, he's too skinny!"

"Look at his claws!"

"Did you arrest him, Judy?"

Judy rolled her eyes. "Alright everybody, chill out. This is Nick, he's my partner at work."

"Uh, hi," Nick muttered with a small wave.

There was a collective, excited gasp, and her siblings gathered closer to Nick as a unit.

"You're a police officer too?"

"Have you ever shot anybody?"

"Do you get to drive as fast as you want?"

Appearing to recover, Nick said, "Not as fast as I want, but only because I'm trying to stop your sister from driving like a cheetah late for a date."

"Guys, guys, give him some air," Judy said above the roar of laughter. "Mom and Dad inside?"

There was a chorus of "yes's" and "follow me's" and the small mass of bunnies made straight for the main house. Judy crossed her arms and glanced at Nick, who looked like he'd just survived a small tornado.

"And that's just the under ten set," she said, nudging him.

That fact that Judy and her police partner Nick were here did not remain a secret for long. More bunnies of various ages were beginning to swarm the house, and Bonnie was on the front porch before they'd reached the first step.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming!" she crowed, arms open wide for a hug. Judy sank into it, pleased to see her mother (particularly when she was not hungover). "And Nick too! Oh I wish you would have told me you were coming, I would have asked what Nick here likes to eat – "

"Don't worry about it, Mrs. Hopps – "

"Call me Bonnie. What on earth brought you here?" Bonnie pushed Judy to arm's length and inspected her closely. "Everything alright? Did something happen? Is it those neighbors of yours again?"

"Mom, Mom, I'm _fine_. We're just here to check on the night howlers and thought it would be a nice excuse to visit."

Bonnie cocked her head. "Check on the night howlers? Well Bun Bun, I'm certainly glad it's you this time, I'm just surprised they didn't tell us they were sending the usual officer – "

Judy frowned, but before she could press her mother for details, her father's voice boomed from behind them. "Jude! Jude the dude!"

Despite being covered from ear to foot in dirt, Stu embraced her in a giant hug. Over his shoulder Judy met Nick's eyes. "_Jude the dude?_" Nick mouthed at her, a predatory grin spreading across his muzzle. Judy gave him a warning glare and pulled back from her father. "And Nick!" Stu continued. "What a fine surprise, it's good to see ya Nick. Here you've been takin' care of our little bun, Nick – "

Nick's grin spread impossibly wider. "Well she is just a little bun in a big city after all."

Judy dragged a paw down her face. "Listen, Dad, I promise you we'll catch up over dinner. But Nick and I are actually here on business."

Stu's ears perked up and he bounced on his heels. "Oh ho, official police business, you say? What can I do ya for, sweetheart? Need your old man's expertise?"

"Uh… sure Dad. Listen, the night howlers," Judy said, "Nick and I need to examine them, pronto. Are they still by the north field?"

Stu shook his head. "Ah, those things again. Oh no, we don't keep them in the open field anymore. Official decree from Lionheart, those suckers need to be locked down tight. Built them a custom greenhouse, 'bout a half mile south off the Cotton Path. Gideon can take you there."

"Gideon? Really?"

"Oh yeah. That dang greenhouse is a fair bit out of my way now, but I offered Gid a discount on his wholesale blueberries if he helped me tend to it. Couldn't manage 'em without him."

"Looks like we owe Gid a visit," Judy said, nodding. She hugged her father goodbye. "We'll be back for supper, okay?"

"You got it Judes," he said, waving them off. "And Nick, goodbye Nick!"

Judy led the way into the small town. Against expectations, Nick seemed genuinely interested in his surroundings, sniffing curiously at Jane's Jams and Jellies store and dropping his jaw when he spotted a young buck heft an enormous hay bale over his head with ease. He did have a laugh at Judy's expense when he noticed Jug Band Supply Company, but she let it slide. Judy nudged him with her hip and Nick tugged affectionately at one of her ears, and Judy found herself wearing the same warm and silly grin she'd spied on Nick. She attributed it to her delight at finally having her friend back – he seemed to have finally taken his mind off the suspension at least.

A bell tinkled overhead when they stepped into Gideon's shop. "Be with ya in a minute!" came Gideon's voice from somewhere back in the kitchen.

Nick leaned on the counter. "Why does your dad say my name like it's going out of style?"

"Because," Judy sighed, rolling her eyes skyward, "He wants to make a point of showing you he knows your name. Since… well…"

"Since he used to just call me 'the fox?'" Nick drawled, filling in the blanks for her.

Judy grimaced. "More like 'your fox coworker,' but yes, the same general idea. I'm sorry. He used to do it with Gideon too."

"And Gideon grew up with you?"

"He did."

"So why'd your family stock up on fox tasers if they knew one your whole life?" Nick asked. Then he smirked. "Actually, plot twist, I bet Gideon's family secretly owned the fox taser business, and spread the rumor that they were a bunch of shifty lowlifes to drive up sales. We foxes are business savvy, you know. Actually, that's not a half bad idea. If Bogo finally pulls the plug on my career at least I have a solid back up plan - "

Judy snorted. "Nice guess, but no. The tasers were mostly misguidance, just like everyone else, right? I mean they were on edge even before he hit me, so it's not like – "

Nick stood upright. "Hold the phone. This Gideon guy _hit you?"_

Judy waved it off. "Forever ago. I called him out and he scratched my face. We were kits, kits fight."

"You mean it was a fox who gave you those scars on your cheek?"

"Yeah, but he went to counseling - wait, how'd you know about the scars?"

"Because sometimes the way the light hits it you can see, uh - " Nick stuttered. He suddenly seemed very interested in polishing his sunglasses with his shirt. "You know what, nevermind. Irrelevant. So you're saying the only fox you knew before me attacked you. Great. Wonderful. Point him out to me if you see him, I'll be your muscle." Judy rolled her eyes, but Nick continued, "I mean it Fluff, no one's messing around with you while I'm here, you're my - "

Her normally slick friend stumbled over his words for a second time and Judy was starting to get legitimately concerned. She quirked an eyebrow at him and Nick finished awkwardly, " - you're my partner, and I've got to watch out for you."

She stared at Nick, who for his part was now resolutely maintaining steady, albeit neutral, eye contact. Deciding to let it go for now, Judy said, "Well as chivalrous as that is, it's not necessary, _Mr. Muscle_. Gideon's changed now, he's a nice guy. He sells these pies. If anything I'm going to have to watch out for you, you might eat them all."

Nick's ears flicked down as he gave her a skeptical look. "What, don't believe me?" she pressed.

"C'mon, Carrots. The guy used claws on you. Now you're saying he's a model citizen? It's kind of blindingly naive, even for you."

"Yeah, imagine that, a fox who used to be kind of a jerk to me is now a decent guy," Judy said with enough sarcasm to put him to shame.

Nick paused. "Point taken." After another few beats of silence, he added, "I was never a jerk to you."

Judy snorted. "You were totally a jerk."

"Lies."

"You literally told me that seeing me fail made you feel better."

"That doesn't sound like me."

Sighing, Judy shook her head and grinned, her mind briefly traveling back to a fox wielding pawcicles and a bunny in wet cement. After another beat, where she could feel Nick's eyes on her, he suddenly broke it. "I guess this isn't the best time to tell you about my tragic backstory where a rabbit poked me in the eye with a carrot as a kit."

Judy laughed just as a booming voice came from the shop. "Well there sure is a sight for sore eyes, ain't it Miss Judy Hopps herself and - why, who's this?"

Gideon strolled toward them, dusting his hands on a blueberry-stained apron and grinning from ear to ear as he eyed Nick with unbridled excitement.

"Hey there, Gid," Judy said as she gave him a quick hug, "This is my partner on the force, Officer Nick Wilde - "

"I'm just kiddin' ya, I know exactly who you are," Gideon said to Nick, extending a paw. "Been all over the news with that mammals case a while back, haven't ya? Name's Gideon, Gideon Gray, nice to meet ya officer."

Nick took his paw and shook it, his expression carefully arranged in a way that told Judy he was still thinking about her and Gideon as kits. "Ah, the famous Gideon. We meet at last."

Judy gave him a warning look, but Gideon grinned. "Now what brings you all the way out here, Judy? Business or pleasure? Pie ain't good enough in the city? I've got a fresh one in the back with your name on it..."

Nick's ears flicked upright at the word "pie" and he sniffed the air hopefully, but Judy was determined. "Business, actually. My dad said you knew your way around the night howler farm? I was wondering if Nick and I could take a look at it."

Gideon chuckled. "Official police business, then? Gotta say, Hopps, Bunnyburrow is always more interesting when you're in it. C'mon, I'll take you both in my truck."

They were following him to the back of the shop when Gideon turned to Nick again. "Officer Wilde, you mind if I get your autograph for my folks? My Ma and Pa think you're the best thing to happen to foxes since the color red."

"You know what, Gideon? Call me Nick."

Judy snorted at Nick's failed attempt to not look too pleased with himself.

* * *

Gideon slowed to a stop in front of the large greenhouse and led them to it. The glass panels were unusually thick, almost as if they were bulletproof, and an impossibly heavy chain and equally heavy padlock secured the entrance. Judy stared as Gideon pulled out a large key.

"Now I'm not a greenhouse aficionado, but this looks less like a greenhouse and more like an armored vehicle to me," Nick said.

Gideon hefted the lock to the side and opened the door for them. "'Cause it is. We had to build something, what with the night howlers bein' thinned out and all."

Judy's ears stiffened. Her eyes shot to Nick, who was giving her a knowing look from the corner of his sunglasses. "Thinned out?" she pressed, "Thinned out how?"

Gideon swiped a handkerchief over the back of his neck in the sun. "Well, it was the darndest thing really. We started noticing the night howlers were looking... well, like I said, thinned out. Took us a while to notice, really, the way it was done. The missing buds were spread out, see, not all taken in one place. We took a closer look and you see little spots where buds had been trimmed. We thought it was dumb kits or the like at first, but this seemed like a professional job. Darned if we couldn't figure out how they did it. Left no tracks whatsoever."

Judy blinked. "No tracks? In all that dirt?"

"Nope."

"What about scents?" Nick asked, frowning.

At that, Gideon chuckled. "Ya know, no bunny thought to ask me that... I thought I caught a whiff of something if I got there early in the morning enough, but it was always too faint. Night howlers are way too fragrant, they cover it right up."

"Mind if I take a sniff around?" Nick asked.

Gideon waved him on. "Go right ahead. I'm going to sign you guys in on our little chart over here." He gestured toward a clipboard on the wall. "It's how we keep track of who's in here every day, considering the security around these things."

Judy took a look at the chart. There were daily entries from Gideon, a few from her father and her brother Ian. But there were several, over the course of many weeks, that simply read "ZPD."

"Who's here when it says ZPD?" she asked.

"Oh, that's just Officer Lupino," Gideon said.

Judy frowned. "Lupino? I've never heard of him… what precinct is he from?"

Gideon shrugged. Judy nodded and jotted the name down on her notepad.

"Gid, can I ask you a favor?" Judy asked as she watched Nick look curiously at a flower, bend to sniff it, and then immediately sneeze.

Gideon finished signing the report. "Sure, watcha got for me?"

Judy tore her eyes away from Nick's now sneezing fit and turned to the other fox. "If you see anyone in here who isn't on the approved list... and I mean anyone, no matter who they are or who they say they know... can you call me? Or Nick? Call the precinct if you have to, leave us a message, but just let us know somehow?"

"I, gee... well, of course I can do that, Judy," Gideon said, blinking in surprise, "But why though? Is there something I should be worried about?"

Nick was storming back to them now, glaring at the flowers like they had personally wronged him. Judy shook her head. "Just... keep a really, really close eye on this place."

Gideon drove them back to the Hopps' farm shortly after. He declined their offer to join them for dinner as he needed to return to the shop, but welcomed them to come by anytime for some dessert. Nick certainly perked up at that.

Dinner was, by all accounts, quite lovely. There were homemade biscuits and gallons of vegetable stew, and the heavenly aroma that permeated the house warmed Judy almost as much as watching Nick. He spent most of dinner surrounded by her curious younger siblings, being peppered with questions from the littlest ones - "Do you really eat bugs?" "Can you smell the moon?" - and being given a crash course in Hopps family traditions by the slightly older ones. When Judy made an attempt to corral them and give him some breathing room, he surprised her by waving her off. ("I can't smell the moon but let's be honest, we all know it smells like cheese.")

It was only a small handful of her older siblings who seemed to be made uncomfortable by Nick (which Judy was quick to point out to him later that it was mostly her in laws anyway). At best they treated him with exaggerated, forced politeness, at worst they ignored his presence completely. If Judy made an apologetic gesture after these interactions, Nick simply smirked at her and swatted her with his tail beneath the table. Each time it was like an electric current went through her.

By the end of dinner she was filled to the brim with all of the warmth and love in the room. It almost made her forget why they were here, that maybe there was someone out there out to get her, that there was a drug epidemic spreading through the city she loved. It was easy to push these things from her mind when she had Nick to watch, who despite all his attempts to remain cool and above it all, appeared to be having the time of his life as he was suckered into another round of lucky rabbit's foot, a favorite card game among the siblings closer to her age.

He was no longer a fox in bunny house, he was just Nick and she was just Judy and this was her family. Everyone she cared about was with her right now. At one point Judy was certain her mother had caught her staring at him. But when Judy glanced at her, her mother was simply doling out more biscuits with a small smile on her face.

So it was with a twinge of regret when she eyed the first few stars of twilight twinkling outside the window. It was time. She caught Nick's eye; he winked at her, and they gently excused themselves to a mountain of protests.

* * *

Nick followed Judy closely as she wound her way through a line of blackberry bushes. She moved from memory so confidently that he could have sworn she had night vision too.

"This isn't the way we came back from the greenhouse," Nick said, grunting as his pants snagged on thorns once again.

"It's a shortcut," Judy said. She had managed to avoid every single thorn. "Besides, this is a stakeout. You think we'd just waltz up to the front door?"

"If someone really _is _stealing night howlers, you think _they _would just use the front door?" Nick countered.

Judy gave him an appraising look before turning to face a holly bush. She pulled back a thick branch and gestured for him to pass. Nick raised an eyebrow at her but followed her lead. He had to get down on all fours to slip through the small gap between holly and spindle bush, the leaves grazing his back. At last he emerged in a small thicket, protected on all sides by bushes, trees, and thick grass. It was a quiet in a lovely way that seemed to put him instantly at ease. Judy came up behind him and crouched down by a holly bush on the opposite side. "Look," she said, pointing through a small gap in the bottom.

Nick laid on his belly beside her and peered through. They were only a pawful of yards away from the greenhouse. The small gap in the copse gave them an excellent view of it, while still managing to conceal them from sight. A perfect stakeout spot.

Nick whistled. "Yowza, Fluff. Doesn't get any better than this for spying on unsuspecting mammals. How did you know this was here?"

Judy laid down next to him. "This is where my older brothers and sisters used to bring their dates and sneak blueberry wine."

Nick raised his eyebrows at her. "You mean to tell me future Officer Judy Hopps, champion of the law, participated in alcohol theft and underage drinking?"

"I didn't actually drink it! But I didn't tell them to stop, either. I just looked the other way."

"That's for the best. No one likes a snitch. Just how many bucks did you come here to sneak moonshine with?"

"I usually just came here to read my Nancy Shrew novels."

"Oh, Carrots. You were _this_ close to not being a dork."

Judy nudged him with her elbow. "You know you love it."

"Do I know that?" Nick rested his chin on his paws but watched her from the corner of his eye. "It's with great regret that yes, yes I do."

Judy scrunched her nose in a teasing smile. "You watch, I listen?"

"You got it, officer."

They settled into silence. His eyes having fully adjusted to the darkness, Nick kept watch on green house while Judy's ears twitched above him. The last purples and pinks of sunset faded, turning the sky into an inky navy. He knew he had to stay focused, but Judy's shoulder, just a hair away from his own, was becoming desperately distracting. He wanted to catch the night howler thieves, true, but he also wanted to press his muzzle into that shoulder, run his nose along it, breathe in that smell he spent his days chasing –

"It's uh, it's true what they say about that country air," he found himself blurting, grasping at anything to distract himself before he did something he'd have a hard time explaining away. Judy's ears swiveled toward him. "It smells clean, in a fresh kind of way, not in the Zootopia 'one too many mammals on the subway today' kind of way."

"Haven't you ever been out of the city before?" she asked.

"Never far enough where I couldn't get a Bugga Burger after midnight if I wanted."

She hummed softly at that and stared out, past the greenhouse. "You know, I was so excited to move to the city that I never thought about what I was leaving behind. And when I'm in the city, it makes me forget. But when I come home it just reminds me… that I didn't realize that when you leave somewhere, you leave little bits of yourself there too... does that make sense?"

Nick thought of nights in Finnick's van, years spent couch surfing with whoever would tolerate him at the time. "It does." He thought of sitting at the kitchen table in his mother's apartment, doing his homework but mostly watching the clock for her to come home. "But I don't think that's a bad thing. You could just be making space for new bits of your life. Plus, judging from what I saw today, you're always going to have a home to come back to."

Judy rested her cheek on her paw to look at him. "Hustler. You always say just the right things." She paused. "Thanks for today, by the way. For putting up with everyone. I know it was probably a lot."

Nick smirked. "I didn't have to put up with anything. Today was... you know, it was kind of nice. Now, don't go spreading that around, I do have my reputation to think of."

Her face lit up. It was brighter than the moonlight. "You really mean that?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, after I got over the fact that you do really have almost three hundred siblings and that wasn't just a joke, it was nice to be around that much… I don't know. Togetherness. Family. It was fun to pretend to be a part of it for a day."

She was searching his face now. The intensity of it made him want to look away, but he was finding it difficult. Her muzzle was so, so close.

"You don't have to pretend," she said, "I brought you home, you're part of the family now. My parents like you. The little ones _loved _you. None of that was pretend."

"Come on. Some of it was pretend," Nick said without thinking. He blinked. Okay, he hadn't meant to say that part, he _really _hadn't meant to say that –

"What part? What wasn't real?" Judy asked, ears twitching.

"It's nothing, just forget it."

Judy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. Like I'm just going to forget that – c'mon Nick, what are you talking about? If it's about me and my family I deserve to know."

Nick felt his claws pierce the soft earth beneath him. "You didn't 'bring me home,' Judy. Not in _that _way. You brought me here because you're low key on the clock right now and I'm your partner. Your _work _partner. There's a difference. It was fun for me to pretend it was the other way around, but it's over now, I get it."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I mean."

"No, Nick, I really don't."

"_Fine_," he said, nearly growled, "When you bring someone home – and I mean _really _bring someone home, not 'your partner Nick from work,' someone you actually want to test the waters with before he becomes the new son-brother-whatever-in-law, that's when it goes back to being pretend, because that's when you stop bringing me around. You're going to bring home some buck and everyone's going to be thrilled about it and no one's going to have to pretend to not be shocked that he's a fox."

Judy simply stared back at him, her face an impenetrable wall. It was though every little thought and feeling, all the secret ones he'd kept so carefully close and hidden away in his heart, were now slipping through Nick's blundering fingers for her to see. And now the words were tumbling out too, and he was powerless to stop them. "Look, it's fine. Everything's great. Just forget I said anything, alright? Let's just keep going the way things are, I'll be fine – I am fine. You're fine. We're both fine."

He turned away from her so as not to look at her, not to see what was surely a pitying look on her face, to see her start to form the words she needed to let him down gently, how they'd always be friends -

"What if I don't want to bring home _some buck_?"

He froze. His brain slammed to a halt, trying to process what he'd just heard and if she'd really just said it. He turned to face her again.

In the year since he'd known her, Nick thought he'd seen every look that could ever cross Judy's face. Which was saying a lot, considering how emotional bunnies were. Every subtle cringe, every wide eye, every bit of joy, sadness, fear, hope, and pain. But he was wrong, because right now she was looking at him in a way she had never done before. It somehow seemed so familiar and yet he couldn't place it, but it was pulling at him, shredding him apart, piece by piece, putting him back together and bringing him home. And then it hit him.

She was looking at him the way he'd been looking at her for months.

And because she was Judy she moved first, because that's just the kind of thing she did.

Her mouth was on his and she was kissing him. It was soft and warm and he was frozen in place because she, Judy, was kissing him, Nick. And just as she started to pull away, because he had not responded and oh no, maybe she'd guessed wrong, she'd gone too far, Nick's brain kicked back into gear. Or maybe just his instincts. He wouldn't ever know. But he pressed back, cupped the back of her head with a soft paw and tilted her just so, changing the kiss into something else entirely. Something that pulled a weak groan from him and had her grasping for his other paw in the dark and squeezing it oh so tight –

Judy's ears suddenly jerked against his paw and she pulled sharply away from him. He panted, breathless and confused, until her ears twitched again. But this time he'd heard the noise too. Nick followed her gaze out from under the thicket.

There were silhouettes moving in the greenhouse.


	10. Chapter 10

There were at least two figures moving around in the greenhouse. Neither of them appeared to be much larger than Judy, and certainly not larger than Nick. Reeling, she turned back to him. He looked just as frazzled as she felt. "They seriously couldn't have waited another five minutes?" he breathed.

Judy choked back a half-hysterical laugh, her mind spinning at the absurdity of the situation. "I – Nick – "

"What's say we table this until we kick the bad guys out of your family's property? We've waited this long," Nick said, pushing himself up and offering her a paw.

She took it, and he pulled her to her feet. "Deal. But, just… how did they get in the greenhouse without us noticing?"

Nick raised an eyebrow at her. "You _do _remember what you and I were just doing a second ago, correct? Give me some credit here, Fluff. I hope it wasn't that forgettable."

"Trust me, I'm not forgetting anytime soon." She smirked and nudged him in the ribs. "They don't kiss like _that _in Bunnyburrow."

Judy attempted to burn the look on his face into her memory. Unable to stop a small laugh this time, she darted out of the thicket, leaving Nick slack-jawed behind her. A moment later she heard him stumble clumsily after her.

"Side vents," Judy hissed as they ran, "solar powered, regulates the temperature inside on hot days, we can open them manually."

"Your ability to switch gears never ceases to amaze," Nick muttered, catching up with her.

She led him to the far side of the greenhouse and motioned for him to stay low. With everything at bunny-scale his shadow would be a giant giveaway next to the glass. Carefully, Judy slid her paws under the pane and pushed inward. The window tilted, giving her enough room to slip inside, and maybe just enough for Nick. She hefted herself up and over, landing on silent paws.

Nick followed, trying to shimmy his head and shoulders through as quietly as he could. Judy pushed her weight against the window to give him more room, and at last Nick landed inelegantly but entirely silently in the dirt beside her.

They were shrouded by a line of night howlers. Peering through the leaves, Judy spotted a figure wearing thick gloves carefully plucking night howler stems. It was the raccoon she'd tried to apprehend before the rhino attack. She pulled out her phone and started recording video.

A rumbling sound made them both duck. Lifting her head cautiously, Judy saw what appeared to be an armadillo, tucked into a ball, rolling down the dirt row after the raccoon.

"What's he doing?" she whispered.

"He's covering their tracks," Nick muttered back.

Nick was right. Even in the darkness she could just make out the completely flattened ground that appeared in the armadillo's wake.

"Smell anyone else?" Judy whispered.

Nick sniffed and shook his head. "Can't smell anything over all these flowers." But then he suddenly made a wild grab for his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. For a heart-stopping moment Judy thought he'd inhaled some of the night howlers, but then she remembered his allergies from earlier in the day. "Nick, whatever you do, don't sneeze!" she hissed. Nick gave her a glare that clearly said _no kidding_.

Nodding, she continued, "It looks like it's only two of them, I think if we - "

"You oughta learn to count, dumb bunny," came a snide voice from above them.

A dark blur jumped from the rafters. Judy barely had time to look up before she felt a foot connect with her cheek. She flew backwards until her back collided with a bag of fertilizer. Dazed, Judy shook her head and blinked away the pain. Nick had been landed directly on top of by the looks of it. He was on his back, struggling with the figure who was pinning him to the ground -

"Duke!" Judy cried angrily.

Duke Weaselton ignored her. He was grappling with Nick's paws, trying to break Nick's blocks. "Never thought you'd be the one to turn on us Wilde, but you know what they say – never trust a fox," Duke grunted, panting with effort, "that's why I'm going to enjoy this - "

A pocket knife glinted in his paw and Judy sprang to her feet. "Nick!" She leapt over a row of flowers but was caught around the middle mid-jump; the raccoon had lunged at her from behind and tackled her to the ground.

Duke leaned an inch from Nick's muzzle. "I'll do the bunny cop next," he hissed. It was at that moment that Nick sneezed directly into Duke's face. Duke jerked backward with a disgusted cry, giving Nick the half second he needed to bunch his knees to his chest and kick Duke hard in the gut. With a cry of pain Duke flew off of Nick and landed in the next row of night howlers. Blue pollen plumed menacingly around him.

"Don't breathe it in!" Judy cried, still struggling beneath the raccoon.

"Shit! _Shit!_" Duke screamed. He writhed in panic, flattening more night howlers and sending more pollen in the air.

"Stop moving, idiot!" Nick coughed, his voice hoarse from the struggle. "Carrots, where are you?"

The raccoon above Judy had frozen when the pollen had been released. But now his senses seemed to have come back to him, and he turned for the armadillo. "Run, now!"

Judy gasped as his weight left her. The raccoon followed the groundhog to the far end of the greenhouse before disappearing under a garden table. Nick was on his feet. He pulled his shirt collar over his nose as he made a wide berth around the pollen cloud to get to her. "Are you alright?" he cried, his voice muffled through his shirt.

"Fine, I'm fine!" Judy growled, grabbing her shirt and doing the same. She accepted Nick's paw as he pulled her to her feet again. Then they turned to watch Duke, helpless to intervene until the pollen settled. At this point he'd been coated in so much pollen that he looked like he'd been dyed blue. Just as he lifted his paws to the circles of dust around his nostrils, the panic dissipated from his face. Nick and Judy watched with a kind of horrified fascination as Duke's face took on a euphoric quality. His smile was wild, feral even, and his pupils had dilated to pinpricks. In the next moment, he was laughing like he'd heard the best joke of his life.

Judy exchanged a worried look with Nick. "He's high?" she asked.

Nick nodded. "As a kite."

"How much would he need before he went savage?"

"No idea, but I'm guessing half a greenhouse stands a chance."

Still giggling, Duke suddenly took off at a run. Nick darted after him with Judy right behind, but they had to angle wide to avoid the pollen. They were already too far behind when Duke had reached the same garden table as his cohorts. He practically slithered between two large buckets and disappeared from sight.

Nick skidded to stop next to the table and threw one of the buckets to the side. "No!" Judy cried, looking down. Hidden by the buckets was a small but very distinct hole in the ground – a tunnel.

"That's how they got in without us noticing!" Judy said, stomping her foot. "They've got a secret entrance!" She unclipped her flashlight from her belt and dove towards it, determined, but felt Nick's paw close around her wrist. "No," he said.

She whirled to face him. "What do you mean, 'no?' You don't know what I'm thinking."

Nick narrowed his eyes. "I know exactly what you're thinking. You're thinking 'hmmm, I'm going into this dark and mysterious tunnel all by myself to chase a drugged up maniac.' Well, think again."

"He's stealing from my family's farm, Nick, I have to go after him! This property is enormous, we'll never find where it lets out otherwise!" Judy protested.

"You don't know what's down there, and I can't cover you! Look at the size of it, I'll never fit in there!"

His eyes were wide and pleading. The fear and anxiety was so similar to the night they'd been stalked outside the cruiser despite so much having changed between them from then until now. She could still feel his mouth on hers, still _taste _him, and now she finally understood why he'd thrown himself in front of that rhino, why he hid her behind him during the blackout. What her clumsy feelings had only just clunked together, Nick had known for a long, long time.

Which was why it broke her heart to reach for his paw with her free one. "I can _do _this, Nick," she said with a squeeze, "I've got a good track record when it comes to chasing down Duke, remember?"

"I do, and I also remember he wasn't high out of his mind and ready to go savage at any moment," Nick growled, clutching her paw.

"Nick, just _trust me_, please?"

He glared at her. Finally, begrudgingly, let go of her paw. "That's a low blow and you know it."

She knew. "Cover me!" she said before either of them could change their minds, and then dove into the tunnel.

Her feet hit well-trampled earth. She took off down the tunnel, ducking slightly to avoid hitting the ceiling.

"ZPD! I order you to stop!" Judy yelled into the dark. She knew it was a waste of her breath. She didn't expect them to actually stop. It just seemed like the thing to do.

But to her surprise, one of the voices rang out, "ZPD? Help us!"

It sounded as though they were running back in her direction. Judy skidded to a stop, dumbfounded, and pulled out her tranquilizer gun. She gripped it with her flashlight and aimed ahead of her, ready to take a shot if the need came. The thundering of paws grew louder until the raccoon appeared in the beam of her flashlight.

"Help us, he's gone crazy!" he screamed, sounding petrified.

Judy's finger tensed around her trigger. "What are you – "

But in the next moment there was a strange snarl, and Duke suddenly leapt into the light. His eyes were gleaming and he was foaming at the mouth – he was savage. Judy barely had time to gasp as Duke tackled the raccoon to the ground.

Judy tried to take aim, but with the frantic squirming of both mammals it was impossible to shoot without possibly hitting the raccoon. Duke sunk his teeth into the raccoon's belt and began dragging him backwards down the tunnel, away from Judy. They disappeared into the darkness, the raccoon's terrified squeal growing fainter and fainter.

Holstering her gun, Judy sprinted after them. Savage or not, Duke seemed to have an advantage on all fours and moved at remarkable speed. The noises grew more distant. She ran anyway, and soon she could see moonlight streaming into the tunnel. It was the exit, at last. She burst out of it and into the night. There was a beat up van – the getaway vehicle – with the armadillo behind the wheel. Duke was still attempting to attack the raccoon, but the raccoon managed to squirm free and hurl himself into the van.

"Stop!" Judy cried.

But she was too late. With a squeal of tires, the van took off down the road, with Duke chasing wildly behind them.

Judy kicked the ground in frustration. Sighing, she took in her surroundings. She recognized where the tunnel had let out. It was a service road, on the northern end of the property. It was not used frequently, mostly for when the main road was flooded or snowed shut. No wonder the tunnel had gone unnoticed. Clenched her fists, she hopped back into the tunnel to tell Nick.

But as she got closer to the greenhouse she could hear Nick's voice. It seemed as though he was talking to someone.

"I'm telling you, she's down there!" she heard him say. He sounded close to panicking. "Where does this tunnel let out? There has to be another way in. Just tell me and I'll go find her - "

"You mean you'll _hunt her down!_"

One of her older brothers. Ian. Judy scrambled.

"Now now, there won't be none of that talk." Gideon. She could see the end of the tunnel now, blinking with the movement of flashlights.

"Listen son. _Nick_," Her father. "I know this farm like the back of my paw and there's no tunnel there. Just tell us where our Judy is and we... we can forget this ever happened - "

"I'm here!" she cried.

"Judy!"

There was mass movement at the mouth of the tunnel but Nick was quickest. He thrust his arm and shoulder into the hole as far as they could go, his paw straining for her dirt-caked one. She clasped it and he pulled her clean out of the tunnel and back into the greenhouse. He held her tightly to him, dirt and all, for the briefest moment before setting her down on her feet.

Her father, Ian, and Gideon were all bearing flashlights and staring at her and Nick with equal looks of bewilderment. "Jude," Stu gasped weakly, "what on this good green earth is going on - "

"There _is_ a tunnel, Dad. It's right here and you've got to board it up immediately." Judy said, putting her paws on her hips. "You've got thieves, and they're not teenagers."

"Doggone, you serious?" Gideon cried. He shuffled past them and sniffed the mouth of the tunnel.

Judy turned to her brother. "And I heard what you said to Nick, Ian, and you owe him an apology."

Ian blinked at her. She'd forgotten how much he resembled her father. "Well, Jude, you gotta look at it from our point of view - we heard a commotion and we came out to check on the night howlers, and all we saw was him. And then he's spouting off some wild story about you goin' in some tunnel - "

"Hi, I'm Nick, the mammal you're talking about," Nick said dryly and extended his paw, "Standing right here, nice to meet you."

"Nick's a cop, he was right about the tunnel, and you jumped to conclusions," Judy countered, tapping her foot.

But Ian's gaze was flickering between Nick and Gideon, a small frown creeping onto his face. Judy could see him putting the pieces together, however incorrectly, and it was as though the happy bubble that Nick, her family, and she had coexisted in just hours before had burst.

Stu, who was examining the hole with Gideon, looked over his shoulder. "Ian, you heard your sister - apologize!"

Judy glared at Ian, feeling a childish pleasure that her older brother - who had a wife and kits of his own - was still getting reprimanded by their dad.

Ian threw his hands up in resignation. "Fine. Look, Nick, I'm sorry, alright?"

Not really feeling like that was even a halfway decent apology, Judy opened her mouth to protest, but Nick waved his paw. "Don't worry about it," he said. He gave her a pointed look and she dropped it.

Gideon still had his head in the tunnel when he asked, "Where'd you say this tunnel let out, Judy?"

"Service road. On the north side."

"That 'un takes you straight back to the main highway," he said.

"AKA right back to Zootopia," Judy muttered, catching Nick's eye. He groaned.

"I'm going to check it out the other end, see what I can gather," Gideon said, dusting off his knees. "Listen, Judy, we'll get to the bottom of this, you can count on me. Nick, it sure was a pleasure meetin' ya, I hope to see you again under better circumstances." He grasped Nick's paw and gave it a hearty shake before shuffling out of the greenhouse.

With a grunt, Stu got to his feet. "I can't believe it. Thieves, a tunnel, right under our noses!"

Judy patted his arm. "It's not your fault, Dad."

"But I let down the mayor! I told him personally I'd see it to that these flowers were kept safe. How am I going to look him in the eye at the Carrot Days Festival tomorrow? I'd better alert the office first thing in the morning, I'm sure he'll be wanting to send your buddy from the police force to check in on things again."

"Again? It wouldn't be that Lupino, would it?]" Judy asked.

Stu shook his head. "Oh I can never remember his name. Some wolf fellow. White fur. Gideon would've remembered."

Judy exchanged a look with Nick, who frowned.

"Listen, you kids must be exhausted, why don't you get some shut eye?" Stu continued. "We've got some old army cots of Pop Pop's for you, Nick - "

"Sorry Dad, but we can't. We've got to get back to Zootopia while the trail is still hot," Judy said firmly.

Nick, who had been looking very relieved at the idea of a break, gave her an exasperated look. Stu's ears went straight as he stammered, "Go… go back to Zootopia? _Now? _Jude it's – it's after midnight, you need rest – "

"Listen to your father, Jude the dude, he's a smart man," Nick added.

Judy crossed her arms. "We'll get rest when the case is solved. Apologize to Mom for me, I'll come back and visit as soon as I can. Oh, and can we borrow the truck?"

* * *

The freeway was very nearly empty as they sped toward the city. Nick had offered to drive several times, and all of them had been rejected by Judy. She'd told him to get some sleep, he'd argued that she needed sleep. Now neither of them slept, as he was determined to stay awake to make sure she stayed awake too. Nick was exhausted, which did nothing to help the fact that the whole previous day was beginning to feel like a fever dream. Less than 24 hours ago they'd been aboard the train going _to _Bunnyburrow, and now they were racing back with their first big break on a conspiracy the likes of which hadn't been seen since the missing mammals case.

Oh, and there was also the tiny fact that they'd made out and neither one of them had brought it up since.

He'd attempted to bring it up multiple times, but all of them sounded too stupid in his head before they'd even come out. _Do you want to talk about that thing that happened last night that wasn't me almost getting stabbed? I know we're actively trying to bust a drug ring but also can I take you out to dinner sometime? _All of his previous dating experience was failing him spectacularly when he needed it the most. Then again, those were mostly failures themselves, so maybe it was best he didn't draw from them.

But, just like the kiss itself, it was Judy who acted first. "Have you ever heard of a 'Lupino?' Since you 'know everybody' and all."

Nick snorted. "Are you kidding? Dozens. It's a common last name."

Judy frowned. "I don't know any Lupinos."

"Sorry, I should be more specific. It's a common _wolf _last name, little Miss Country Bumpkin. It's like Cottontail – how many Cottontails did you know growing up?"

"You don't want to know the answer to that," she said. She chewed her lip. "So… if a wolf was going to use a false identity, that's a generic enough name that it wouldn't raise any eyebrows?"

"You're not buying it either, I take it?"

"Not one bit. Think about it. If it was his or her only job to keep an eye on the night howlers, why would they not take my brother's complaint seriously? How could they have not found the tunnel by now? We spent one day there and found the tunnel _and_ the suspects."

Nick grinned. "Maybe that's just because we're _that _awesome," he said. "But I agree with you, Fluff. We could call your parents, see if we can get more out of them beyond some wolf joker with white… fur…"

He stared vacantly out the windshield. Nick suddenly felt himself breathing very fast as his mind became a blur. Distantly, he heard Judy's concerned voice. "Uh, Nick? Do I need to pull over?"

"Grizzoli."

Judy's frown deepened. "What about him?"

"_Grizzoli_," Nick repeated, his mouth dry. "It's him, Judy. He's been in on it this whole time. How did we _miss _it – "

"Nick, what are you talking about?" She sounded alarmed. "There are plenty of arctic wolves out there. Look, just because you don't like him – "

He turned to face her. "Carrots, it has nothing to do with that, though for the record I can't exactly say I _loved _that little false accusation of his that may or may not cost me my job. No, listen to me - he never turned in our drug sample. He randomly gets promoted to captain, so he can oversee whatever he wants. He was the one who was leading the 'it was all Nick's fault' parade when Duke escaped."

She stared at the road, gripping the steering wheel hard. The silence was so long that Nick was about to ask her if she'd heard him when she said, "He can't just oversee whatever he wants."

"Come again?"

"He can organize a case, but the case still has to get assigned by Bogo. A _promotion _also needs to be granted by Bogo."

Nick felt his fur stand on end. "Are we going back to _that_ well again?"

"This kind of thing would be hard to do alone, Nick. The government _and _the police force are involved. He'd need someone at the top to help move things along without anyone noticing." She glanced at his conflicted face. "Hey, if you can accuse Grizzoli without any evidence, I can accuse Bogo."

Nick sighed. "It's just… he gave me a second chance. Well, more like a third chance. I just really hate to think that Bogo would… you know…"

"I don't like it anymore than you do, trust me. This might be the one time I hope a lead is wrong."

"So now what?"

Judy seemed to perk up at the idea of having a plan. "Well, we need to take the video I have on my phone back to headquarters. The trick will be finding someone we trust to take it to."

"Bogo out, Grizzoli out," Nick mused, ticking them off his fingers. "Fangmeyer?"

"Possibly," Judy said, "though she probably has to report directly to Grizzoli."

"Well, we're going through authority figures like underwear right now. Pretty soon all we're going to have left is Lionheart, and after that it's pretty much just Clawhauser and the junior ranger scouts – "

"Nick, that's it!" Judy cried, bouncing in her seat. "We could take it to Lionheart!"

Nick blinked. "Really? I was joking… "

"I'm not! The night howlers are monitored by the government anyway, if anyone should find out it should be him."

"I can only imagine how Bogo would react to us going over his head like that, you know he usually has such a pleasant demeanor," Nick said dryly.

"My dad said it himself, the mayor wanted to know personally if there was anything funny going on with the crop. Besides, he'll be at that benefit tonight, we have a decent chance of tracking him down."

"You mean _you_ can track him down. I doubt I still have an invite as a suspended cop."

"Of course you still have an invite, dumb fox," Judy said, looking at him from the corner of her eye, "As my date."

Nick's head turned to face her so fast it was a marvel he didn't hurt himself. He must have inhaled some of the night howlers, there's no way she could have possibly said –

"What?" she asked, smiling. But then her smile faltered at his dumbstruck face. "Well, that is, you know, if you _want _to – it's okay if you don't, I just thought… I mean I'm a… and you're a… well, we're different – "

"Really?" Nick drawled, finding his voice and tweaking one of her long ears. "I hadn't noticed."

His teasing seemed to rally her. "You thought you could kiss me like _that_ and not even get a date out of it?"

Nick crossed his arms and tried his best to look cool and not let his tail wag like he was a kit. "First of all, you kissed _me_. Second of all, I'm the emotionally stunted one, not you. I would have just kept wallowing forever wondering how you felt until you took pity on this poor fox and put me out of my misery."

"Why would it end with you being in misery? You never had a scenario where you had a happy ending?"

He knew she meant to comfort him, but there was a hint of vulnerability in her voice. He wasn't the only one who had been afraid to hope too much and too hard, it seemed. It made him feel less alone than he'd ever thought would be possible.

"There's a small gang of my exes that would definitely argue with you there." He grimaced. "But you know what? Let's not go down _that_ particular little road. It's just… well, come on, Carrots. We're in uncharted waters here. For a lot of reasons. I don't know what I'm doing."

Judy shrugged. "I don't either. But when do we ever?"

A slow smile crept up his muzzle. "Almost never."

Her confidence was returning. "You know, I made the first move _and_ I asked you out. You better start stepping up your game, Wilde."

Nick laced his fingers behind his head. "My game hasn't even _started_, Carrots. You're not going to know what hit you."

Judy laughed and rolled her eyes. Fueled by the thrill of her laughter, Nick extended an open paw towards her. Though her eyes stayed on the road, Judy smiled and slid her paw into his.

* * *

_Buzzzzzz_

Nick jolted awake, sending Judy's laptop flying off of his lap. He blinked as he took in his surroundings. That's right, he was at his apartment – Judy had dropped him off there before dashing off to her shift, hopefully to get some leads from Fangmeyer before talking to the mayor. His phone still in an evidence locker, he'd borrowed her laptop to desperately try and contact Finnick about where Duke might have gone off to, and was going to look for the weasel himself until…

Well, until he'd apparently fallen asleep on his couch. He supposed having been up for over 24 hours had not been the most conducive to detective work. But at least he'd been having the most amazing dream where he and Judy were engaging in some things that were very unbecoming of officers in the break room –

_Buzzzzzz_

His intercom. That's what that noise was. Head still feeling like cotton, Nick staggered out of his seat and to the speaker on his wall. "Who's there and what do you want?" he croaked, voice still thick with sleep.

"Nick, it's me, buzz me up!" Judy cried from the other end, sounding panicked.

Nick frowned but pressed the door button anyway. Why did she sound like she'd just run a marathon? Then he looked at the clock and his tail stood on end. It was almost six o'clock. They had maybe fifteen minutes to get dressed and get to the benefit. Judy was supposed to be here an hour ago.

Nick jumped over his couch like it was a hurtle and sprinted for his bedroom. He was hastily stuffing his white button down shirt into his dress slacks when Judy burst into his apartment. She was still in her uniform and her eyes were wild. "_I fell asleep at my desk!"_ she screeched. "We're going to be so late!"

She blew past him and into his bathroom, a length of blue fabric trailing behind her.

Nick cinched his belt and shouted through the door, "Tsk tsk Carrots, falling asleep in the middle of our biggest case in a year? And to think I'm the one who got suspended."

"Oh shut up, as if you weren't dead asleep a minute ago. I could tell by the way you answered the intercom," she snapped back.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Nick sing songed back. Then he caught a glimpse of the sleep-mussed fur on his tail and quickly flattened it.

He snapped the cufflinks on his suit as the bathroom door creaked open. Judy slipped out of it and Nick froze. His eyes traveled from her slicked down ears to the simple silver chain around her neck, then down her inky blue sleeveless dress that just barely touched the floor. He whistled as he exhaled before breaking into a smile.

He desperately wanted to kiss her. Then he remembered with a thrill that was a thing he could probably do now.

She cocked her head at his expression. "What?"

Nick shook his head, still smiling. "I've never seen you in a dress before."

Judy tugged at the dress self-consciously and examined it. "It's not very practical. I can't run in it. And I'm probably the only one dorky enough to wear police-uniform blue but it's the only nice dress I have - "

"You look perfect," Nick said, cutting her off.

She looked up at him, surprised, until she blushed under his blatant staring. "You clean up pretty well too, Slick."

"An ability passed down from one Wilde to another."

She stepped toward him and grasped just the tip of his finger loosely between two of her own. "Where's this killer fashion sense hiding the rest of the year?"

Nick leaned down to her level. "Come here and I'll tell you."

Judy gave him an appraising look but grinned anyway. The moment she took another step toward him Nick surged forward and kissed her. She let out a pleased squeak into his mouth and wound her thin arms around his neck. The tension of the case seemed to have broken a dam between them and everything was flooding out. The nerves of what lay ahead of them melted away, the fact that they were about to miss their train did not seem to matter. His paws found her hips and he reveled in the warmth of her beneath the thin fabric. Judy's breath caught when he touched her; it made his paws tighten, his claws press ever so slightly into the dress. There was a sting as her fingers clenched in the fur of his neck, and she made a small, needy whimper that seemed to shut off half of his brain –

He slid his paws down the backs of her thighs and hitched her up so she was level with him. Judy, ever the quick learner, wrapped her legs around his waist and squeezed, her dress bunching up at her hips, her mouth frantically kissing every inch of his muzzle she could reach. A growl rumbled somewhere in the back of Nick's throat and he buried his muzzle into her neck. When he inhaled deeply she gasped his name, causing a shiver to rock violently up his spine. The fox would always want the rabbit, he realized. He'd been programmed for decades, centuries even, to want her, to pursue her, to need her smell and her taste.

Judy was kissing him again, urgent and loving, quintessentially her. With one arm wrapped tightly around her back, Nick slid his other paw from the back of her knee slowly up her thigh, letting her silkiness glide along his rough pads, trailing higher and higher until he felt the cold metal –

Wait. What?

Nick tilted his head away from hers, their foreheads still pressed together, panting the shared air between them. "Judy Hopps… are you wearing your gun under your dress?" he asked between gasps.

"Had to," she murmured into the side of his muzzle, "No pockets. The taser was too bulky but the seam hides the gun perfectly."

Nick grinned and pressed his nose to hers. "And you said the dress wasn't practical."


	11. Chapter 11

Judy shoved her invitation into the face of a startled porcupine as she and Nick dashed into the Marmot Suites hotel. The foyer was swarming with politicians and their significant others, important bankers, lawyers, officers and more. The decorations were extravagant; Judy, having never been to such an event, was momentarily distracted by an elaborate ice carving of an ancient lion until Nick reminded her that they were on a mission and running late for it. She squeaked and continued running to the ballroom, nearly knocking over the district attorney in her haste.

The ballroom was just as exquisite. Judy couldn't help but stare; she'd never been anywhere quite like it. Decorative palm trees covered in string lights lined the room while large swathes of white silk cascaded from the windows (a beautiful imitation of Tundratown's snow). A large crowd had assembled at the extensive buffet table, and there was an even larger crowd at the bar.

"No wonder he needs to fund raise," Nick muttered, eyes wide, "this little soiree probably cost more than what we both make in a year."

"I still don't know how he does it. The bank statements in his house made it look like he was broke. Can't imagine Reedbuck throwing one of these," Judy said.

Nick snorted. "Yeah right. Believe it or not I think she might actually be trying to do, dare I say it, real work. I mean, that's if she can get out her front door without being swarmed by those charming protesters."

"She might be able to tonight," Judy said, an edge creeping in her voice, "Look."

Nick followed to where she was pointing and scowled. The pig woman who had confronted her the other day was in the ballroom as well, wearing a particularly garish dress that seemed to be made mostly of frills. As Judy searched the crowed, she was sure she recognized several of the other protesters.

"How could mammals like that even be invited?" she snapped. "Who would want them here?"

"A mayor who knows his voting base and wants their money," Nick said simply.

"Speaking of, we need to find the mayor in all of this… keep your eyes peeled, this could take a while… "

Nick examined his cufflinks and muttered easily, "Found him."

Judy's ears snapped straight as her head swiveled. "Wait, where?"

Nick gestured lazily to the enormous stage. Mayor Lionheart had just stepped out and was approaching the microphone. He rolled his eyes. "Seriously, how am _I_ the one suspended again?"

"Oh shut up."

Mayor Lionheart cleared his throat and the ballroom went silent. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome, welcome, _welcome! _My eternal gratitude for your attendance this evening, what a pleasure it is to see this diverse crowd of hard-working mammals, mammals who remember the family-first values that made the great city of Zootopia what it is today…"

Lionheart said all of this very fast, with a smile stretched so far it appeared almost manic. He gesticulated wildly with his massive paws, claws extended. He was more animated than she could ever remember seeing him. There was a great deal of cheering, particularly from the pig woman and her crowd. Judy's fists clenched. She watched them as the mayor prattled on, watched them shout and clap at every mention of "traditional" and "righteous" and "family oriented." She thought of Nick with her siblings down at the farm, and all the love and happiness seemed to radiate from the room like the sun. She would have never experienced happiness like that if she had continued to think like these mammals did. There'd be no small hope like the one she had in her now, the one that whispered that one day maybe, just maybe, she and Nick would find family in each other. No, these mammals were not "family first." They wanted to tear families apart, just as they had done to Gwen Reedbuck's father.

Family surged through her mind, and she thought of thieves burrowing their way into her father's greenhouse, of them stealing from the soil he'd so lovingly tended the same way he'd tenderly raised her and her siblings. While her mother was in the house putting kits and grandkits to sleep. Trying to take away some of their happiness. And suddenly the protesters and the stealing and drugs and the attacks were all inextricably linked in her mind, and the only way to solve any of them was to solve all of them.

"Earth to Carrots?"

Judy jerked back to the present. Nick was looking down at her with a fair amount of concern. Without realizing it she'd been squeezing his paw so tightly his paw pads were losing color. She let go quickly and muttered, "Sorry."

He flexed his fingers. "You still alright to do this?"

The mayor stooped into a cartoonish bow as the crowd applauded, then caused his assistants to scramble for safety as he practically sprinted off the stage. Judy could feel the adrenaline kicking in, replacing the ugly thoughts for now.

"Of course I am. I'm going to talk to the mayor. I need to put an end to this, and I'm not sleeping until I do," she said, her face hard.

Nick sighed. "Coming from literally anyone else that would sound comically unrealistic," he muttered. "Ok, Miss Imminent, you find him, I'll look for Fangmeyer and see if she'll tell me where she picked Duke up. Might give us a trail to pick up. And on my way I'm stopping at the bar to get you a drink before you take someone's tail off."

"Carrot cocktail," Judy said, pointing at him over her shoulder before she hopped toward the stage. But she skidded to a stop first and added, "And you're saving me a dance when I'm done, you know that right?"

Nick's grinned as he saluted her.

* * *

Nick approached the bar, glancing for Fangmeyer. He'd already encountered a halfway-gone Clawhauser on his way over. While Clawhauser gave him an excellent rundown of local celebrities and socialites in attendance, he'd been no help whatsoever in locating Fangmeyer. Nick raised a finger and requested the carrot cocktail, ignoring the raised eyebrow the bartender gave him.

"It's not natural, you know."

Frowning, Nick turned to find the pig woman laying a pile of pamphlets on the bar. She was looking at him from the corner of her eye.

"What's not natural? The amount of times I've seen you in the last few days?" Nick drawled.

She raised her brow haughtily. "You and the bunny. I saw you two come in here together. I've seen you both in the news. You're not fooling anyone, I know what you two are doing."

Nick took a steadying breath, secretly pleased with how outwardly calm he remained considering he felt molten anger practically flowing down his spine. "You don't know what you're talking about," he snapped.

The pig shrugged. "I know you just think I'm some uneducated hick, but I'm only saying it for your own good. I've seen too much heartbreak when two mammals think they can ignore their own nature. She wasn't built for your teeth and your claws. You'll hurt her one day. You won't be able to help it. You can't change your own instincts. Better to admit that now before you get her hopes up."

She slipped a pamphlet into Nick's numb paws and slid into the crowd before he could speak. Breathing heavily through his nose, he glanced down at it. On the front of it was the picture from the day the rhino had attacked him – him, prone of the ground with Judy bent anxiously over top of him, her eyes wide with fear. Below the picture read the caption, _"Fearing an unprovoked attack from her partner, a prey officer leans cautiously over a predator. Is this what you want in your relationship? For more information on why instincts cannot be ignored in interspecies relationships, please turn the page."_

* * *

Backstage, Judy could hear heavy footsteps from inside the mayor's greenroom. She hesitated at the door, wondering if it would be appropriate to knock, when the doorknob turned. She narrowly avoided being struck by the door when it swung open; as it was, she was nearly pinned between between it and the adjacent wall. But when she craned around to get the mayor's attention, she was startled to see that it wasn't Lionheart who'd stepped out of his greenroom. It was Bogo.

Blinking, Judy ducked behind the door. Bogo's mouth was locked in a grim line, but his eyes were searching in an almost predatory way. It seemed she wasn't the only one looking for the mayor. He scooped his cell phone out of his pocket and punched in a number. Judy frowned; it was unusual for Bogo not to use his radio. Cell phones were for when you didn't want the other half of your conversation overheard.

"No sign of Lionheart. We need to act now," Bogo hissed, voice low. He paused, listening to the other end. "What, the fox? No, I don't have time – Duke?" Bogo sighed. "Fine, I'll deal with the fox myself. You know his past. We'll need help though… how do we find him? Ask Hopps, she'll know where he his."

Despite his size, Bogo shifted silently down the hall and out of the maintenance exit. Though she knew she should be leaping into action, as she always did, Judy found herself unable to move. A sense of numbness was creeping over her like a fog. It was one thing to toss around the idea of Bogo's involvement on a hypothetical level, but to witness it herself was something else entirely.

_Potentially _witness. Judy had to remind herself of that.

But the idea of Bogo's corruption was sitting in her stomach like an alive, writhing thing. She had been clinging to the ideals of the ZPD so hard lately, so determined she was that things could change and that she could make a difference, that the idea that her chief could be anything less than perfect was a serious blow. Nick would have laughed at her naiveté, but then again he was loathe to accuse Bogo as well, wasn't he?

Wait – Nick. Bogo's words rang out in her head – _the fox. _She had to find Nick.

Her ears erect, Judy scanned the crowd. There was Francine entertaining a score of admirers… Clawhauser darting back and forth between the open bar and the buffet table… the district attorney in deep discussion with the anti-interspecies group… Frantic, she dashed back downstage and into the throng of mammals. They were nearly all taller than her, some of them significantly so, so she darted through legs and around waists until _BAM! _She collided with something warm and solid, and would have fallen on her tail unless a paw hadn't grabbed her around the arm.

"Easy there, Carrots. Your carriage doesn't turn into a pumpkin 'til midnight."

Nick held her arm in one paw and a glass in the other. He seemed unsettled. Before she could ask why, he took one look at her face and handed her the drink. "You look like you need this."

Judy took a gulp that was large enough to make Nick's eyes widen. "You have to get out of here, Nick, _now._" He yelped in surprise as she grabbed him by the elbow and began dragging him bodily from the room.

"Slow down – jeez, how are you so freakishly strong," Nick frowned at her before digging his heels into the floor. "Seriously, what's going on? Did you find Lionheart?"

"Lionheart's missing. Bogo was in his room. He said something about needing to act now, and he's looking for you, Nick – "

Nick's tail bristled as she led him into a back hallway. "Me? Act now – Carrots, slow down a minute. You said Lionheart's missing? From his own benefit?"

"Yeah, which is troubling enough on its own, and Bogo seemed to want to take advantage of it. He mentioned Duke too. I don't know if he's trying contact him to help steal more night howlers, but with Lionheart gone who knows if he might go to… Bunnyburrow…"

Judy trailed off, running a paw absently through her ears. Nick's frown deepened. He grabbed her cocktail and sniffed it experimentally, eyeing her with increasing concern.

Judy whipped around to face him, her eyes wide. "Tonight's the first night of the Carrot Days Festival."

Nick looked at her skeptically. "Look, no offense, I'm sure the Carrot Days Festival is _a delight_, but do you really want to ditch this investigation to bob for carrots right now?"

"Nick…" Judy said slowly, as if coming out of a dream, "every officer in the city is here right now."

Nick frowned at her, confused. But then his face changed, his eyes growing wide, and his paws squeezed her harder. "And I'm guessing every mammal in Bunnyburrow at that festival?"

She nodded and clutched his suit. "So that means – "

" – no one's at the greenhouse," they finished together.

"It'll be open season on night howlers," Nick hissed, dragging a paw over his face.

Judy nodded urgently. "That's got to be where Bogo is going. Nick, come to Bunnyburrow with me, we've got to check on the night howlers_ – _"

"What about the night howlers?"

Nick and Judy froze. Grizzoli had sidled up to them, raising an eyebrow. They released each other, but it was too late – Grizzoli's eyes were already traveling between them.

"Nothing, just talking about your sister again," Nick snapped.

Grizzoli regarded him coolly. "Sorry Wilde, _officers _speaking," he said, and turned to face Judy. Judy could feel Nick stiffen beside her. "Hopps, I'll ask you again – what about the night howlers?"

"It's – it's nothing, we were just talking about my parents' farm – "

Grizzoli leaned in conspiratorially. "It's about the theft, right? You think they're connected to the Blues, too?"

Of all the things Judy was expecting, it had not been that. She gaped at Grizzoli, who merely looked back at her with an urgent intensity. Even Nick, with his practiced indifference, could not stop his ears from dropping in surprise and confusion.

"What, you think I didn't notice too?" Grizzoli asked, looking between them. "I mean it's my assignment, of course I – wait… you didn't think I was in on it, did you?"

Judy spluttered. "I – I mean, we… well, we couldn't be too sure – "

Nick leaned across her, angling so he was between her and Grizzoli. "In on _what_, Grizz? Why don't you tell us?"

Grizzoli rolled his eyes. "Cut the crap, Wilde. I don't have time for your small time hustles. I know the so-called night howlers have been going missing at your farm, Hopps. I know they're connected to that street drug. And I know Bogo's been acting suspiciously, and now I can't find him or Lionheart. There's a rat with us on the force, that much is clear. I don't have a lot of time to waste, so if you know anything, now would be a great time to tell me."

Judy chanced a glance at Nick. He caught her eye and raised a skeptical eyebrow. Growling with impatience, Grizzoli continued, "Hey, better yet, tell me on the way to Bunnyburrow. It's the Carrot Week Festival, right? I'm getting a bad feeling about tonight, I think I'd feel better if we went and checked on everything ourselves."

Before Judy could answer, Nick snarled, "First of all, it's Carrot _Days_, get it right – second of all, she doesn't have to go anywhere with you – "

Grizzoli leaned in so they were nearly nose to nose. "Pretty sure that's her choice, pal. Don't take it out on me because you couldn't keep an honest job."

Nick's hackles shot up. "_You set me up!"_

"You set yourself up, Wilde – "

Judy leapt in between them, raising one hand at Grizzoli and using the other to push Nick back by the chest. "Guys, guys!" she cried, "cool it, okay? This is a team effort, we need to work together on this. Same pack, remember?"

"The ones with badges need to work together on this," Grizzoli countered, gesturing between him and Judy. "Sorry Wilde, you're going to have to sit this one out."

Nick turned to Judy expectantly. When she could only stare back at him, he hissed, "You're not seriously going with him, are you?"

"Pretty sure it's her choice, buddy – "

Judy looked to Grizzoli, exasperated. "Can you give us a minute?"

Grizzoli scowled at her in confusion. "Sorry Hopps, if you don't want to come to Bunnyburrow that's your business, but I need to know now."

Judy looked to Nick, agonized. If Grizzoli _was_ involved in the conspiracy, letting him go without her was giving him the head start he'd need to avoid getting caught. But if he wasn't, she was potentially letting her own teammate walk into a trap. They'd had no proof, after all, that Grizzoli had anything to do with it. Just a gut feeling, a thing that she'd been finding she could no longer trust. Then again, that gut feeling had been mostly Nick's… Nick, who had plenty of reasons to want to pin something on Grizzoli if given the chance –

She tried to smother the twitch of her nose, the slightest knitting of her brow. But Nick, ever attuned to her, caught it. He'd seen it – the flicker of doubt across her face. Doubting him, if only for a fraction of a moment. Nick's own shift was just as subtle. Just the tiniest pinning of his ears, a small hardness in his eyes.

"You're right, it is her choice," Nick said levelly, his voice betraying no emotion whatsoever. "Go on, Hopps. I trust you."

Though he'd said it with no venom, the fact that Nick had finally handed her the trust she'd begged him for made her feel like she'd been slapped. Judy stared at him, shame and rage fighting for dominance in her face. Nick, by contrast, just looked coolly back at her.

"Okay…" Grizzoli said slowly, his eyes flickering between them like he was bracing for one of them to explode. "Look, Hopps, we should go – "

"Lead the way," Judy said, nodding to him. She looked back at Nick as she turned, trying to silently communicate a thousand things to him before she left. He hadn't taken his eyes off her but he didn't follow; he stood there, so handsome in his suit, letting her go. She tried to catch anything from him, any hint that he understood, that he'd forgive her, again, but in the next moment he was lost in the crowd.

* * *

Nick watched Judy go. The flare of disappointment and anger towards Judy had gone as quickly as it had come, leaving behind shame and a healthy dose of panic. He was a jerk to her just now, surely. But now she was alone with Grizzoli. Grizzoli, who he would never trust no matter how ludicrously closely he'd guessed their suspicions.

Part of him wanted to dwell on the fact that when it counted, Judy had doubted him. That, despite being his date, she'd left with someone else (ugh, why did it have to be _Grizzoli…). _But the louder, and much more panicked part of him sensed he had a partner who was in danger. A partner he needed to protect. Too bad he had no phone, no radio, no car, and no one to ask for help.

But he'd gone it alone for years already, hadn't he?

Nick sniffed the air, hoping to find a trace of Judy's scent, but a heavy paw landed on his shoulder and spun him around. He was suddenly face to face with Fangmeyer. "Have you seen Grizzoli?" she asked.

Nick rubbed the bridge of his muzzle. "Unfortunately yes. He just left with Hopps. To Bunnyburrow. Listen, I need your phone – "

"_And you didn't go with her?"_ Fangmeyer asked, disbelief in her tone.

"Well your pal Grizzoli put a stop to that, didn't he? Suspended cop, remember?"

Fangmeyer's face was hard. "Forget calling her. We're following them. Move it."

Without further ado, Fangmeyer marched for the exit. Once his brain caught up with what just happened, Nick jogged to catch up with her. "Fangmeyer, wait up – look, not that I'm complaining, but what gives? Why are you helping me?"

Fangmeyer stared resolutely ahead. "You may trust your partner," she said darkly, "but I don't trust mine."


	12. Chapter 12

Nick was pretty sure that Fangmeyer was about to break the sound barrier. He gripped the sides of his seat as they hurtled down the freeway in the megafauna cruiser.

"So you think Grizzoli's a two-faced fleabag too, huh?" Nick asked, keeping his wide eyes on the road. His shoulders were so tense they were hiked up to cheekbones.

Fangmeyer frowned. "He's been acting strange for weeks. Not showing up for patrols, coming up with odd excuses. Suddenly getting promoted to captain. But it bothered me how quick he was to accuse you of Weaselton's escape, even though he was the one I couldn't find an alibi for." Her claws unsheathed suddenly. "He wanted to be the one to escort you out, by the way."

Nick rolled his eyes. "Gee, I'm shocked."

"He seemed almost gleeful about it. I thought that was odd as well – no one else was glad to see you go. Especially Hopps – she was so adamant that you had nothing to do with it. Call it a hunch, but I had a difficult time believing you'd betray her trust like that, considering your pathetically obvious feelings for her."

Nick was pretty sure he'd just choked on his own tongue. "_What? _How did you know – not that there's – what?"

"You do realize you work with actual detectives, correct?" Fangmeyer drawled. "Though frankly the only detective skills one would need to discern your feelings is a pair of eyes. And I suppose a nose, as you do give off so much musk when she looks your way you'd think you were still a teenager – "

Nick was about to take a page out of Judy's book and hide his face behind his ears. "I do not – "

"Didn't you used to be a con artist for a living? I would have thought you'd be more discreet. Though I suppose you were discreet enough for Hopps not to notice, which makes me doubt her detective skills as well. Don't take that personally, she has many other redeeming qualities and we all think you make a fine match."

"_We all? _Who else knows?" Nick asked weakly.

"Wolford, Francine. Grizzoli, unfortunately. Clawhauser is particularly irritated that you haven't 'gotten off your tail and made a move,' as he put it. Or have you?"

Nick reached for his seatbelt. "Okay, I'm going to jump out of the car now. You don't have to stop."

"Don't do that, we're nearly there."

So Grizzoli knew about them, to some extent. This did nothing to calm his churning nerves. Nick swallowed and replayed Judy's parting in his head. His momentary annoyance at her decision seemed so childish in retrospect. He'd always known that getting into a relationship with a coworker was going to encounter complications, he just wasn't necessarily expecting it in the first twenty-four hours. It was like the press conference again, except he'd learned nothing – he should have pursued her, should have told her he trusted her, should have should have _should have –_

He would not repeat his mistake. He would not turn his back and spend the next three months spiraling and numb. If Judy was willing to come back from Bunnyburrow to find him, then he would go to Bunnyburrow to find her.

* * *

Red and blue lights washed over the Hopps home as the cruiser pulled across the gravel. Judy hopped out of Grizzoli's cruiser before it had even come to a full stop, but had to swerve awkwardly at the last minute to avoid catching her dress in the door. _Not practical_, she thought again. Though it was entertaining to imagine one of her siblings spying her traipsing through the cabbages in a full on gown. But when she looked up, the house was dark. It was the first night of the Carrot Days Festival, and no one was home.

Grizzoli prowled beside her, his ears alert. "Mind leading the way to the greenhouse? My beat officers performed the check ups. I'm embarrassed to say I don't know the path."

"No problem."

The drive to Bunnyburrow had been largely quiet and tense, with Grizzoli occasionally peppering her with questions about what she knew. She'd answered carefully, and she felt that he had noticed this. Even the scanner had been unusually quiet.

She'd almost wished he'd spoken more, if only for the distraction. Every time she pictured Nick's face her insides writhed uncomfortably. She'd placed her family and the case before him. It was that simple. Would he understand? Would he forgive her? Or would it be like after the press conference, and they'd go for months without speaking?

She had squeezed her eyes shut at thoughts of the press conference. Here again, at the critical moment, she had let Nick down. Why did it seem like everything in her life was going in circles? Lionheart back in office, speciest mammals, disappointing Nick – had nothing changed? Had she truly not learned anything? Again, it suddenly seemed imperative that she get to the bottom of the case, and fast. Then she could rationalize it to him. Maybe.

The sun had nearly set, and she could see the stars blinking over the fields. The joyful noise of the Carrot Days festival echoed in the distance – shouts, laughter, and carnival organs. But she only had one ear on it. The other ear was on Grizzoli, who was stomping behind her. She had to admit he'd been a cool customer. He'd given no clue either way as to where his loyalties lay. But just then, as her thoughts drifted back to Nick, Judy had an idea.

She came to a halt and pulled out her flashlight. She pointed it toward the tree line, pretending she'd seen something. Grizzoli stopped beside her. "What is it?" he asked gruffly.

"Not sure. I thought I saw movement just beyond the brush," she lied. After a moment she pocketed her flashlight again. "Just seeing things I guess."

She intentionally held back. Grizzoli grunted and continued to march forward without Judy. Eyeing him closely, she followed. At the fork in the path, he bore right without even glancing at her. He was _leading_. Judy's stomach twisted. Grizzoli knew where he was going. He'd been here before.

Nick had been right all along.

Discreetly, Judy slid a hand beneath her skirt and grasped her tranquilizer gun.

They came to a stop outside the greenhouse door and Judy was pulled from her thoughts. The heavy padlock was laying in the dirt. The thick chain it was attached to had been ripped clean in two and the twisted shards were dangling sadly from the open door. Deep trenches, created by the frantic movements of a large mammal, were carved in the dirt around it. It was not hard to imagine Bogo's heavy hooves gouging the earth.

For the first time, Grizzoli's confidence seemed to slip. His ears flicked down with concern. "Looks like your instincts were right on target, Hopps," Grizzoli muttered as he stared at it. "Bogo."

Instincts. There it was again. But even as she stared at the marks, a small voice in the back of her mind told her something wasn't right. A voice that sounded an awful lot like Nick's. It was him who'd taught her that things weren't always what they appeared on the outside. It was him she trusted. She trusted Nick. Her instincts had been right about that, hadn't they? So she listened to them. Judy listened to her instincts tell her there was something not right about Bogo's conviction coming from Grizzoli's mouth.

She glanced up at Grizzoli, catching his eyes before he flicked them away quickly. He'd been watching her instead of examining the scene. The fur on the back of her neck prickled.

Judy crouched down to examine the chain. It was the work of a large mammal, that was for sure. The padlock alone was nearly the size of a fully grown bunny. Could Bogo have done it? It was certainly possible, she'd seen him kick a hole through a dumpster one time when Francine had accidently stepped on some evidence. Frowning, Judy hopped over the giant chain and into the greenhouse. She expected to land on solid earth, but instead she stumbled awkwardly over what appeared to be a small trench. She aimed her flashlight on it.

Not a trench. Claw marks. Big ones. It could only be a tiger, a puma, or a –

A lion.

Her mind flashed to her father in the greenhouse just the night before in this exact spot. _How am I going to look him in the eye at the Carrot Days Festival tomorrow?_

Realization hit her like a charging rhino. She stared at the claw marks, frozen in place, her extremities numb. Her mind filtered through a hundred different scenarios of what to do next, but she couldn't seem to grasp any of them. It didn't matter, because before she could make a decision a shadow descended over her. Judy looked up. Grizzoli was watching her again. He was blocking the door. Everything about him was predatory.

"You're staring," she told him evenly, not breaking eye contact.

Grizzoli smiled, but there was no warmth in it. It only made his edges sharper. "Relax. I'm just keeping an eye on my partner."

"I'm not your partner," Judy said in a low voice.

This made his grin slip slightly. "It's okay to admit you were wrong about that fox, Hopps. Really, he had all of us fooled, too. That's the thing about foxes, you know? Can't trust them."

Judy inhaled through her nose, her ears rigid. "That's the thing about us prey though, isn't it?" she said, her voice steel, "We know which predators we truly need to watch out for."

Grizzoli's ears flattened as his eyes narrowed. Judy did her best to keep her breathing even and remember her training. Her tranquilizer gun was still in her paw. She was a quick draw, she knew that. But Grizzoli would see it coming a mile away. She was going to need another escape plan. A quick plan on the fly was something Nick was brilliant at. _What would Nick do…_

_Fake it 'til you make it_, she could practically hear him whispering in her ear, _keep 'em talking 'til you find a way around the problem._

"You've been working with Duke, haven't you?" she pressed, her voice even. As she said it, she pictured the claw marks outside of Reedbuck's window. They weren't Finnick-sized – they were Duke sized. As if coming out of a trance, she murmured, "He broke into Reedbuck's apartment and stole her fur. The fur _you _planted at Lionheart's…"

"About time, rabbit," Grizzoli said, "Gotta say, the boss is a little let down. He was expecting you to catch on much quicker than this. Being so close to the source and all."

The source – Bunnyburrow. Her family. Her _parents_. They'd spoken to Lionheart the same morning as the –

"The rhino attack," she hissed in a whisper. "Lionheart had you set that up. He didn't want me catching on to, to _this_."

Gesturing to the night howlers as she said it, she noticed that they had been roughly picked through. Not in the subtle way Duke and his cronies had done it, but as though whoever had done it was desperate. And was a great deal larger than your average bunny.

"How much have you and Lionheart been profiting off of my family's hard work?" she asked heatedly.

Grizzoli moved toward her slowly. "Not as much as you're worth to the mayor in a hospital. Or a morgue, for that matter. You might be worth more to Lionheart dead than alive, Cottontail."

She had to pause at that. "How do you figure?"

"Seriously? And here I thought you were supposed to be this super sleuth and not just the token bunny," Grizzoli snorted, "You off the case and Lionheart avoids a scandal. You _dead _and he's reelected in a landslide. He's the one who got you your job, he's the one who _believed _in you – or, at least that's what the public believes. Imagine the headlines. Lifted the idea from your Bellwether report, actually. _Hero cop paw-selected by mayor dies protecting Zootopia. _The whole city would eat that tragedy up. No one would have the heart to vote against him. _Especially _if you got killed by another species. A _fox_, perhaps. One that you were screwing in your spare time, even. Wouldn't look too good for Reedbuck's bleeding heart interspecies campaign, would it?"

"You put the night howlers in Nick's drink!" Judy spat.

"He should have thanked me, really. You have any idea how much that amount of Blues costs on the street?"

"Enough to fund Lionheart's lifestyle, I'm guessing."

"You didn't hear that from me," he said, grinning. "Now listen, this has been fun, but the mayor and I have a lot to do tonight. Like I said, the mayor could really use you, so it's up to you how easy or hard you want to make this – "

Though her heart was pounding, Judy's head was blessedly clear. In the blink of an eye she had her tranquilizer gun pointed at Grizzoli's chest. He put his paws up, his face unreadable. "I'd be careful," he said lowly, "if I fall on these night howlers it's your funeral."

"Who said I was aiming for you?" Judy asked innocently. Without hesitating, she shifted her aim to the sack of fertilizer on the shelf over Grizzoli's head and pulled the trigger. In a feat of marksmenship that would have made the academy director blush, the dart hit the corner seam and the sack split open. Fifty pounds of fertilizer spilled out directly onto Grizzoli's head. His disgusted yell was muffled and he collapsed under the sudden weight. Seizing her chance, Judy turned and sprinted down the row of night howlers to the far end of the greenhouse. She could hear Grizzoli charging behind her, growling and yelling obscenities.

She dove under the table to the mouth of Duke's escape tunnel. Thanking her lucky stars that Gideon had not done anything to barricade the entrance, Judy threw aside the barrel. But as soon as she did so, a hideously loud alarm blared through the greenhouse. She gasped. Gideon had not barricaded the entrance. He had booby-trapped it. He didn't want to just prevent the thieves, he wanted to catch them.

This thought gave her the split second warning she needed. Just as Grizzoli lunged for her, Judy threw herself to the ground. A moment later a spring-loaded net exploded from a hidden gun barrel like a weaponized spider web. It soared over her head and engulfed Grizzoli. He tumbled to the ground with a bewildered snarl.

It was a trap intended for weasel-sized mammals and Judy knew she only had seconds. Scrambling in the dirt, she gathered her legs beneath her and threw herself to the tunnel entrance. Behind her she heard rope tearing as Grizzoli clawed himself free hurled himself after her. But if Nick couldn't fit, Grizzoli had no hope. To her satisfaction she head a frustrated grunt behind her. After giving herself several yards' clearance from the entrance, Judy looked over her shoulder. Grizzoli's head was all that could fit through the small opening. He gnashed his teeth and growled at her, but it was useless.

"I guess you should dig a bigger tunnel next time you hire someone to steal from my family's farm!" she chirped.

With one last look at Grizzoli's outraged face, Judy sprinted for the exit. She knew where she had to go next.

* * *

Fangmeyer took the exit ramp for Bunnyburrow without decreasing her speed. The cruiser jolted over the bumpy dirt roads. Nick clutched his seatbelt and hoped he'd live to regret the whiskey he'd knocked back at the fundraiser. "Left! Left here!" he managed to croak as he gestured frantically to a side road. "It's a shortcut to her house!"

Fangmeyer swerved. She had a gleam in her eye that convinced Nick she was actually enjoying this. When the Hopps' family farm loomed into view he motioned for her to stop. He didn't trust his whiskey not to make an encore if he tried to speak just yet. Fangmeyer slammed the brake pedal and they skidded to a stop.

Clutching his stomach, Nick staggered out of the cruiser. Theirs wasn't the only cruiser outside of the house. "This is our squad car," Fangmeyer snarled and slammed her door. But Nick barely heard her – he was too busy staring at the front door to the dark Hopps house. It was hanging wide open.

They both froze at the sound of heavy paws running toward them. In a move of muscle memory he would later be impressed by, Nick swiveled on the spot and reached for his tranquilizer before remembering it was not there. But Fangmeyer was just as quick and had her own gun pointed in a millisecond. But despite the whiff of canine Nick caught in the air, the footsteps were too conspicuous to be the stealthy movements of Grizzoli.

Instead, another fox burst into sight, flinching at the shine from the headlights.

"Gideon?" Nick said, cocking his head to one side.

Gideon squinted at him before letting out a joyous whoop. "Officer Wilde! Well I'll be damned if it ain't just the mammal I needed. But how the heck ya get here so fast?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well I called the station not ten minutes ago about the break in – "

"What break in?"

"The greenhouse, the place is trashed – "

"What?" Nicked snapped, looking sharply at Fangmeyer. She looked ready to pounce.

"I was at the festival when I got an alert that my trap got triggered, so I just took a look at it. Some mammal really did a number on it – "

"Was anyone there?" Nick asked quickly. He was breathing rather loudly. "Did you see Judy?"

Gideon's face twisted with confusion. "Judy Hopps? Why, no, there was no one there… you think _she_ broke into the greenhouse?"

"No, that's not what I…" Nick dragged a frustrated paw down his muzzle. "Look, can you show Officer Fangmeyer here the greenhouse? I'm going to check the house, something's not right."

Fangmeyer frowned at him. "Don't be ridiculous. You need backup, you aren't armed – "

"Won't be the first time I charged in headfirst with no resources," he said, grinning bitterly. "We don't have time to argue, alright? Judy's missing, and if Grizzoli is out there hopped up on night howlers there's a whole festival that will need backup more than I do. Just keep everyone safe, alright?"

Fangmeyer looked at him strangely. Confused, Nick said, "Look, I don't get it either, but there's not really a night life here and this festival's all they've got – "

"Not that," Fangmeyer said, still gazing at him, "You're a strange one, but I'm just glad to have you on the force. That's all."

Before Nick could respond, she turned to Gideon and barked, "Lead the way." Nick watched a confused Gideon lead Fangmeyer down the dark path to the greenhouse before he turned back to the Hopps house.

A deep sense of foreboding settled in his chest. Breathing hard, he ran up the front steps and into the house. The halls were dark and quiet. All of his senses alert, Nick padded down the hall on silent paws. It was eerie without the clamor of dozens upon dozens of bunnies scampering every which way at all times.

"Carrots?" he whispered, heart pounding. "Where are you, Fluff?"

There was the soft _thwump _of movement upstairs. Nick froze and sniffed the air. He tried to find Judy's scent, but it was impossible in a house already so saturated with bunnies. Whoever it was moved, he could hear the paw steps make their way to the stairs, picking up speed. Paw steps that were much too heavy for a bunny. Nick looked around wildly for something to arm himself with. He moved quickly to the kitchen, trying to remember where Bonnie had pulled out that giant knife to chop all those vegetables –

"Wilde."

Nick spun on the spot. Grizzoli was in the doorway, gun drawn. The taser, not the tranquilizer. The one that inflicted more pain.

"Where's Judy?" Nick asked lowly.

Grizzoli's expression did not change. "With the night howlers. Obviously."

"Bullshit," Nick hissed, "She'd never let your flea bitten tail in this house. What did you do?"

"What makes you think I did something? She's your squeak toy, not mine."

Nick's fur stood on end. His paws were shaking. "You're looking for her, aren't you? What happened?"

"You were there, Wilde – your little bed bunny wanted to make sure her little bumpkin farm was safe. As you'd managed to lose your badge in just a year on the force, I – an actual officer – accompanied her. You're the one who keeps showing up in places he doesn't belong tonight."

"Cut the crap, _Lupino._"

This made Grizzoli step slowly forward. He had to stoop ever so slightly. If Nick felt too large for the Hopps house, Grizzoli was a giant. The sickening feeling of being cornered was growing in his belly, but he'd been in worse situations than this. At least that was what he was going to tell himself. In the past he'd found that stalling for time was his only chance. Willing himself to sound braver than he felt, Nick continued, "You're not kidding anyone, Grizz. We know you framed me. We know you were the one who let Duke go. Had to keep your Blues harvesting crew intact, I guess? You even set up the power outage, didn't you? Carl's not just working for the power company, he's working for you too. I bet it was you who set up the rhino hit? You've been busy, bud."

"Well la dee da, junior detective. You and Hopps really blew the case wide open tonight," Grizzoli drawled derisively, "it would be impressive if you weren't a couple months too late. Or if were still an officer. So let's take stock here… no badge, no weapon, no proof. No _Carrots_ either. She's a little young for you, by the way."

He bristled. The nickname sounded dirty coming from Grizzoli. "Where is she?" Nick asked again, growling this time.

"I'm afraid I can't disclose that, it's official ZPD business," Grizzoli said with a sneer. With each step he took forward, Nick took one backward.

"Put the gun down."

"I don't think you're in a position to give orders around here, fox."

"Kits live here. Put the gun down."

Grizzoli snorted. "Why should that matter? They're _bunny_ kits; if we lose a pawful tonight someone will pop out a whole litter to replace them by breakfast."

Nick's fur bristled in disgust. "You can't stand it, can you?"

At this, Grizzoli finally faltered. "Stand what?"

"You can't stand that Hopps is better than you. That a _bunny _is better than _you. _A thousand times better than you'll ever be. You can't stand that she never wants to be your partner. You can't stand that she wants to be mine instead. You can't stand that you can't ride her coattails to the top."

At this Grizzoli took an aggressive step forward. Nick's back bumped against the counter. "Always obsessed with the prey," Grizzoli snarled, "You need help, Wilde. But I guess it's too late for that too. Setting you up is going to be even easier this time, you know. It's not going to be hard to convince everyone you ditched the party to scoop up more night howlers, knowing every cop in town is preoccupied… no one's going to believe the con fox. Especially not when they put together that the hick baker fox was 'guarding' the night howlers too. You'll both be in prison by the end of the night."

Nick thought fast. He was still three full steps from the nearest drawer. It was worthless to make a grab for it, Grizzoli would be too quick. He took several deep breaths in rapid succession, gearing himself to use his claws, his teeth, to access the dormant predator. But it was useless; he'd never used them on another mammal. He'd never been able to harm anyone, ever –

Grizzoli, with his pack order instincts, seemed to sense this. He smirked at Nick's tensing fingers. "Aw, is wittle Wilde gonna claw me? Please. I've seen you. You won't even muzzle the mammals you manage to bring into the precinct. You don't have it in you." Grizzoli bared his own teeth now. They gleamed in the moonlight. "Maybe that's why Hopps is the best you can do. You're as weak as any prey anyway."

Nick's nose twitched. So did Grizzoli's. He had picked up the smell too, the scent of someone – of prey – approaching. "Hopps?" Grizzoli said into the darkness, fingering the trigger of his gun.

But Nick, who knew Judy's scent so intimately that while he knew it wasn't her, he knew it was _a _Hopps. He barked out a warning to whoever it was as Grizzoli turned –

_CLANG!_

A heavy, cast iron skillet collided soundly with Grizzoli's head. He crumpled to the ground like a ragdoll, revealing Bonnie Hopps behind him. She was standing on the kitchen counter, skillet clutched in both her trembling paws, a furious look on her face.

"_Mrs. Hopps!_" Nick breathed in absolute awe.

"I told you Nick, Bonnie is fine," she said smartly, as though he'd just watched her merely swat a fly. She hopped to the floor. "Are you alright?"

Nick gaped at her. "I'm… fine? But _you_ – you saved my tail just now. And also that was _unbelievably awesome_, I might add. Where'd you learn to hit like that, you could give the precinct lessons_ – _"

She waved her paw. "I'm a mom, I know things. Besides, I owe you more than that, seeing as how our Judy told us all about what a hero you were, what with saving her from that rhino and all. Without you we might not have our... you know," she shuddered, unable to finish the thought. Gathering herself again, she took a breath and gave him a look from head to toe. "Well, step back, let me make sure this boy my Carrot Cake is so smitten with is really okay."

"What... how did you... did Carrots - I mean, Judy tell you we... I... but I thought she didn't - "

"Please. She calls home every week. I'm her mother, you think I can't hear it in her voice when she talks about you? Let alone the way she was looking at you the other night?"

Nick stared at her, both embarrassed and pleased at the same time. He really should have learned not to underestimate Hopps does. Bonnie placed the skillet on the counter and was looking at him not with revulsion, but with a maternal warmth.

"You don't seem as upset as you should be," he said.

"Why should I be upset?"

Nick gestured to himself with a sweep of his paw. Bonnie sighed in a way that was both soft and a little sad. "I'm not saying it's going to be easy for the two of you but… all I see is a nice boy who treats her right. Don't think I haven't seen the way you look at her, too. You wouldn't hurt a hair on her head, I can tell. Too bad I can't say the same for this piece of work."

She glared down at Grizzoli with a look on her face that made Nick wonder why the term "mama bear" wasn't "mama bunny." He suddenly knew which side of the family Judy took after.

"One of the kits left his binky at the house so I came back to get it. That's when I saw the police cars out front," Bonnie continued, "He wasn't due back for a check in until next week. Next thing I knew I heard the two of you going at it."

Nick stooped down and scooped the handcuffs from Grizzoli's belt, and then snapped them around Grizzoli's wrists. Pocketing the key, he turned to Bonnie. "He's a dirty cop. He's running a drug ring involving the night howlers again. Well, 'running' is probably too strong a word. I think he's more middle management."

Bonnie gaped at him in disbelief. "Officer Lupino?" she blurted. "This whole time? But he's… we hadn't the slightest idea… does Judy know?"

"His real name is Grizzoli, and she does now, he brought her here. Listen, Bonnie, she's in Bunnyburrow somewhere but I don't know where. They took my gear and my phone, I can't reach her but I have to find her, I need to make sure – " The words _she's alive _quite nearly came out of his mouth, but he couldn't bear to voice his deepest fear out loud. " – she has back up," he finished unconvincingly. He grabbed Grizzoli's tranquilizer and taser guns and stuffed them awkwardly in his dress slacks.

But Bonnie seemed to gather his meaning from his shaky hesitation. Alarm filled her eyes, but she didn't let it swallow her. "How can I help?" she asked with a fierceness he'd come to associate with her daughter. "Should I tell the mayor? He should be taking the stage any minute."

Nick's brow furrowed. "The mayor? But he's…" he trailed off, eyes going unfocused. He heard Stu in his head – _How am I going to look him in the eye at the Carrot Days Festival tomorrow?_ – and his heart sank. They'd been so wrapped up in the case, they'd never put together that tomorrow had meant the same day as the ball. It had been right in front of them the whole time.

"Nick, honey, are you alright? You're shaking."

He turned to Bonnie's concerned face. He held his paws out awkwardly – if it had been Judy he would have been grabbing her by the shoulders. "Yes, you _can _help me. Listen, I need you to get back to the festival and tell everyone to stay away from the mayor." Bonnie's eyes widened. "I'll explain later, but it's very important, okay? While you're doing that I'm going to look for Judy. Just keep yourself safe, alright?"

Bonnie nodded, looking fearful but determined. Nick turned to go, but he felt her paw around his wrist. He faced her.

"Go find our girl," Bonnie said fiercely.

He was out the door in moments. He'd shed his suit jacket somewhere between the house and the strip of woods separating the farm and fairgrounds. Nick's paws pounded the earth as he darted silently between the trees. Beyond the rushing of air surging past his ears he could hear the muffled sounds of the festival growing steadily louder. His eyes, whose night vision was rarely needed in the big bright city, illuminated the dark undergrowth before him. And despite the cocktail of smells from the forest around him, Nick's nose inexplicably and distinctly caught the scent of prey in the distance.

He was a fox running through the woods in the night, hunting for a rabbit.

And suddenly it hit him more forcefully than that rhino had all those months ago – being a predator was not a burden. It was a gift, an incredible one. He needed to find his bunny, and nature had given him every skill he required to do so. Despite his fear and exhaustion Nick huffed out an incredulous laugh. There was nothing on earth he'd rather be right now than a fox. His instincts were like live wires. He was going to find Judy. He was born to do this.


	13. Chapter 13

Judy crouched in the shadow of the ferris wheel and gathered the bottom of her dress to her teeth. She bit clean through the hem. Then, grasping her skirt in both paws, she tore two slits clean up the length of both legs. Satisfied that it would be enough to make it easier to run in the admittedly pretty but completely impractical outfit, she continued to sprint to the grandstand.

She all but flew along the outskirts of the fairgrounds, her feet tracing memorized steps. To her left the Carrot Days Festival went on oblivious to anything ominous in its midst; laughter and shrieks competed with the organ music and carnival games. Beneath the nerves and adrenaline Judy felt a muffled pang of nostalgia.

But her years of attending the festival told her where she had to go. The guest of honor always took center stage at the grand stand. Lionheart, undoubtedly the guest of honor, would be preparing in the VIP tent behind the stage. Judy knew this from the year a real live ZPD officer had been the guest of honor and she'd nearly frightened the life out of the poor moose when she'd snuck into the tent to ask for an internship. Careful not to catch her dress, she leapt the fence that separated the festival from the maintenance area.

By a stroke of luck, the backstage area was nearly empty. No doubt because the crew would be doing final microphone checks and examining the stage itself. "ZPD!" she yelled to a startled sheep as she darted past him, running with determined strides to the tent. She skidded to a stop at the opening flap and peered inside.

Lionheart's enormous back was to her. He was crouched over a water cooler, nose to the top of the water jug, snorting and inhaling. Judy sucked in a breath. Suddenly his erratic speech at the ball made sense. Lionheart was not only backing the illegal distribution of the night howler drug – he was using them as well.

Fingering her tranquilizer, Judy straightened her back and cleared her throat. "Mayor Lionheart, sir?"

Lionheart turned. She was anticipating him to be shocked or embarrassed, but to Judy's surprise, he smiled widely. "_Officer Judy Hopps!_" he cried as though he had been expecting her. "Well, aren't you looking just ravishing this evening!"

Judy, who knew her feet were coated in dirt and her dress was torn beyond recognition, said, "Uh… sure. Mayor Lionheart, can I ask what you were doing just now?"

Blue powder stained his nostrils. His paws were trembling so much his claws clacked together. He smiled again showing all of his teeth. "Aw honey, you and I know… we both know… the ZPD and I have an understanding…"

"I am the ZPD and I certainly don't understand it," Judy said firmly. "Sir, if you would just come with me, you don't want anyone at the festival to see you in this condition."

"Hopps… Judy Hopps… my favorite bunny officer! And look at you, all razzle dazzle in that dress of yours…"

Judy's ears went rigid at Lionheart's voice. His speech was slurred, but it was laced with a snarl. His eyes were much too bright and they were focused on her. She pressed on, "Mr. Lionheart, if you would just come with me – "

Lionheart waved a paw at her, though it swung menacingly in her direction the way a swipe would. She could a glimpse of razor sharp claws glinting in the moonlight. "I'm not doing anything wrong… this is safe, it's to help with back pain…"

"Sir, that is a drug that has been processed without ZFDA approval using contraband ingredients, ingredients that in their most potent form will, if you recall, cause any mammal to go savage – "

"Oh blah blah blah," the mayor slurred back at her. A trickle of drool leaked from the corner of his mouth.

Judy stared at the mayor. She remembered standing next to him at her graduation, how she'd nearly erupted with pride at being recognized by him. How regal he had seemed, how eager she had been to impress him. Now she looked at him with nothing but pity.

She took a step toward him and said softly, "Leodore. We can get you the help you need, sir. There are rehabilitation centers, counseling for addiction – "

She'd hit a nerve. His mood changed in an instant. "I'm not a junkie!" His teeth were bared. "I'm the mayor of Zootopia! The only reason you're here is because of _me!_ You gonna arrest me, bunny? After what I've done for you?"

Judy held her ground. "I've done it before and I'll do it again." She tried not to think about the fact that she had no pawcuffs on her, let alone ones large enough for a lion.

"I own this town… I make the laws here…"

"You don't, actually," Judy said, an edge to her voice, "one of the joys of democracy. You can only recommend and enforce laws. May I remind you that _you _were the one who recommended the use of any night howler be strictly monitored and forbidden outside specific produce…. needs… sir?"

Judy trailed off as she watched the mayor warily. Even though he was looking at her, he did not seem to be taking in a word she had said. He was hunched over, his breathing was coming out in labored snorts that shot puffs of blue powder into the air. His eyes were growing wider, more wild and menacing, until at last the pupils dilated in a way that was horribly familiar to her.

"Cheese and crackers," she hissed, reaching for her tranquilizer gun.

Mayor Lionheart dropped onto all fours.

Judy jammed the barrel of her gun to switch her ammo to a megafauna dose. The moment cost her – Lionheart lunged faster than she could have imagined. She was forced to dive out of the way, just barely missing the swipe of deadly claws. Lionheart crashed into the temporary support beams. They splintered like toothpicks. Lionheart was already gathering himself for another attack, his tail whipping behind him, when the tent collapsed on top of them both.

The heavy tarp knocked Judy off of her feet. The gun was knocked out of her paw, landing somewhere in the mass of tent. She frantically kicked and squirmed underneath the fabric, desperate to free herself. The sound of ripping of fabric was smothered by a ferocious roar so loud it made Judy's ears ring. There was a startled cry from the crowd on the other side of the stage. Lionheart was snarling, looking for her, but she was surrounded by the tent, trapped –

A paw clamped around her upper arm and yanked, hard. Judy burst free from the fabric and hit the ground next to a mammal who was panting heavily. Without hesitating she aimed her tranquilizer and opened her eyes, ready to shoot Lionheart between his if she had to, but then she caught sight of who had grabbed her.

"_Nick!_" she cried.

Nick lay on the ground next to her, breathing like he had just run a marathon. She was elated that he was here, but also terrified that he'd followed her into the literal lion's den. Just as he'd done with Bellwether and every other hare-brained ("bunny-brained," she'd heard him refer to them once) idea she'd had in-between. And suddenly she was no longer scared. Because whenever Nick was with her, Judy knew she'd be okay.

Nick pushed the barrel of the gun away from his face with a finger. "You know Carrots, I leave you alone for one night and look what happens – "

But he was cut off by another horrible roar. Lionheart had spotted them and had sunk into another crouch.

"Look out!" Judy screamed as Lionheart lunged.

They dove out of the way, just barely missing him. "The stage," Judy gasped as Nick yanked her to her feet. They scrambled underneath the wooden beams and PVC piping that supported the main stage. Lionheart surged after them but collided with the beams. Even though the stage was intended for a lion it was still built by bunnies, meaning the beams were a bunny-width apart. Lionheart's head barely fit through the first row and his frustration showed. He snarled and snapped, his claws tearing trenches in the dirt. He thrust his weight forward, and the first of the beams began to crack.

Nick glanced at her. "Heck of a first date, huh?"

"At least its not boring," Judy said as she watched Lionheart. She clutched his paw. "Nick, you know I'm sorry – "

He squeezed it back and cut her off. "We were both idiots. You don't need to apologize. And also, frankly, you don't really have the time to anyway. Given the feral lion about to kill us and all."

"About that – there's a surface level irrigation pipe near the front of the stage, they always disconnect it for the festival. It goes deep into the ground. It's the only thing here Lionheart will never be able to rip it out. If we can just lock him to that, we have a chance."

"Fangmeyer," Nick said immediately, "She's here somewhere, she'll have megafauna cuffs on her and – "

"And we can lock him to the pipe with those!" Judy finished elatedly. She punched his arm. "Yes Nick! I _told_ you making friends was a good idea!"

He was about to point out to her that her original pitch was for him to make friends with Grizzoli, but the sound of cracking wood split the air as Lionheart forced his way through the first row. Nick yanked Judy back. Lionheart's eyes were trained on them, gleaming in the dark –

But then his eyes suddenly lost focus, practically drifting into a dreamlike state. His nostrils flared. Lionheart's body went completely still aside from the frantic twitch of the tip of his tail.

Judy frowned. "Is he… is he coming down from it? The high, I mean?" she whispered.

"No…"

The fear in Nick's voice made her tear her gaze from Lionheart to look at him. Nick's eyes were wide, his breath quickening as his own nose sniffed the air. "No… Judy, we've got to move, _now_ – "

"Why ?"

"Everyone at the festival – all the prey – they're afraid. I can… I can _smell it_. It's wafting in here, Lionheart's got to be smelling it too, Judy he's going to – "

Nick didn't need to finish his thought for the blood to drain from Judy's face.

_He's going to hunt them._

No sooner had she thought it when Lionheart yanked his head free and darted around the back of the stage.

"We've got to cut him off!" she yelled.

They turned and scrambled underneath the stage. She shoved the curtain aside at the front end and burst into the night. Dozens of festival goers were gathered at the foot of the stage, staring toward where they'd heard the sound of splitting wood. Lionheart had not made it around the stage yet. A few of the locals gasped at her sudden, bedraggled appearance.

"Everyone, listen, you need to run – " Judy gasped, though only a few of the mammals could hear her.

"Microphone!" Nick huffed, scooping her up and hoisting her onto the stage.

She caught his meaning and jumped onto the platform. She leapt at the microphone, which was set to Lionheart's height, and clambered up it as though she was performing the rope climb at the academy. "Listen, everyone please listen," she yelled, her voice amplified over the mystified guests. "Evacuate immediately, this is an official order from the ZPD, I need you all to evacuate _immediately_ – "

But then there was a tremendous crash followed by several screams. Lionheart had rounded the corner and torn through the media tent, sending the photographers running. The crowd, who was still taking in Judy's shocking pronouncement, turned their bewildered gaze to Lionheart. They were never going to react in time, Judy realized with dread, they had no idea what was going on.

Lionheart crouched, eyes trained on the mammals nearest to him, a group of bunnies and sheep. Judy sprinted towards them, screaming at them to move – on the ground below she noticed Nick doing the same – unsure of what she planned to do, knowing she'd never get there in time.

Just as Lionheart lunged, a massive shape soared over the crowd. It collided with the mayor in a mix of snarls, knocking him off course and smashing into the ground. The bunnies and sheep scattered. Confounded, Judy tried to get a closer look when Nick cried, "Fangmeyer!"

Indeed it was her; the large tigress tangled up with Lionheart, attempting to wrestle him into submission and giving it her all.

"Where's the pipe?" Nick yelled to Judy.

"Judy!"

Judy whipped around. Her father was running towards her against a sea of fleeing bunnies and other prey. Several of her siblings were behind him. "Jude, what's going on? What's happened to the mayor?"

"Dad! Get out of here, I mean it – "

"Judy, sweetheart, we can't just leave you here, we'll help you – "

"Dad, _no – _"

"Mr. Hopps," Nick said desperately, turning toward her father, "Judy can handle it, trust me. Just get your kits out of here – "

A roar ripped through the night, followed by a painful cry Judy realized belonged to Fangmeyer. Judy turned just in time to see Lionheart's powerful hind paws kick into her. Fangmeyer was launched into the air, all several hundred pounds of her coming straight for them. Nick, who was facing her father, had his back turned and wouldn't see in time. In that split second she saw Nick, her Nick, telling her family to run and save themselves because she _had this_. Nick, the first fox cop. Nick, the first person to believe in her. Nick, who always stood by her side. Nick, who made her world deeper and wider than she'd ever thought possible.

And then she felt it. The thing Nick had felt that day with the rhino. The instinct, no matter how illogical, to protect the one you loved.

Judy lunged forward and pushed Nick out of the way with all of her might. She barely glimpsed his startled expression as he stumbled away from her and into her father before Fangmeyer collided with her and everything went dark.

* * *

Stu let out a surpised yelp as Nick collided with him. Nick would have landed on top of Stu had he not caught himself on his paws and rolled out of the way.

"Judy!" he cried, scrambling back to his feet. Several yards away was a motionless Fangmeyer laying in a heap on the ground. Judy was nowhere in sight, though presumably trapped beneath the heavy tigress. She would be smothered in moments if that were the case. He was already moving toward her when he heard a collective, horrified gasp. He turned around.

Behind him was a gaggle of Judy's siblings, huddling together in a shivering ball of frozen terror. They were staring at Lionheart with a kind of transfixed dread. Because Lionheart was on all four paws again. His eyes locked on the children. Sinking down, he stalked toward them, his eyes wide, his tail twitching. Stu was running for them, but he'd be no match for an angry lion. There was now nothing between Lionheart and his prey. He was ready to pounce.

In that moment, Nick thought of Judy.

Judy, who he'd sought to protect out of some distant, primal urge that told him he must protect his family. Judy, who'd resisted that protection again and again, urging him to do what was right by the job instead. Judy, whose family was now his family too. Judy, who would do anything for the ones she loved.

He knew what she'd want. He knew what he wanted.

And so he changed course. He ran, full tilt, into the gap between the bunnies and the lion. Placed himself in front of the prey. Threw his paw out in front of him and screamed "NO!" at the predator.

The bunnies behind him screamed as Lionheart raised his paw, claws bared.

Lionheart's paw connected with his chest with the force of a sledgehammer. Nick's back hit the ground and the air rushed from his lungs in a pained huff. That's when he felt the claws slide in, tearing through his shirt, passing through fur and entering skin. If he'd been able to breathe he would have cried out in pain, but instead it came out as a raspy gasp.

Above him Lionheart's eyes were feral and his teeth were gleaming in the moonlight. He was so close Nick could feel his hot breath with each snort. Nick clutched at Lionheart's gigantic paw with both of his own, trying hopelessly to shake it off as he writhed on the ground. It was useless. He would have had better luck pulling up a tree trunk with his bare paws. He could feel a warm, damp spot growing on his chest, and soon the metallic scent of his own blood hit his nose.

Being the fox who died protecting a bunch of bunnies wasn't the worst way to go, he supposed.

"_Nick!"_

He wrenched his gaze away from Lionheart's terrifying face and craned his neck to the side. Judy. She was there, crawling out from underneath Fangmeyer's limp form, dragging Fangmeyer's pair of megafauna cuffs behind her. She was bleeding and one of her ears was bent at a funny angle, but she was alive and running toward him and looking fierce.

They locked eyes and suddenly Nick knew he wasn't going to die. Not today at least, not right now. Because Judy was here. Judy, first bunny cop. Judy, first bunny to run towards a feral lion to save a fox. Judy, first and only bunny he'd ever – or would ever – love. He loved her. _He loved her. _And suddenly he knew he'd be fine because she was here. Because if she was with him, he could do anything. Including not getting killed by some crazy lion.

Using both paws, Judy slung the pawcuffs at him with everything she had. Nick flung out his paw and caught them. Grunting in pain, Nick grasped the megafauna cuffs and slapped one end around the paw that was pinning him to the ground.

"Bunny pile!" he heard Judy yell.

There was a thundering of feet around him. Nick could feel the vibrations through the ground like a stampede. And then suddenly dozens upon dozens of fearless bunnies came from all angles. They leapt onto Lionheart's back, clung to his waist, grabbed his tail, and dangled from his mane. Lionheart let out an angry roar and staggered under the weight. Nick gasped in pain as the mayor's claws withdrew from his chest. The paw with the cuff around it flailed in the air, preparing to swipe and claw the bunnies off of him.

But before Lionheart could swing, Judy took a running leap into the air. She flew so fast and far she looked weightless, her tattered blue dress streaming behind her like a cape. And her aim was true; Judy latched onto Lionheart's paw before he could strike. The force of her momentum was finally enough to knock him off balance, and Lionheart and the bunnies tumbled to the ground.

Nick heaved himself onto his side. Scrambling on all fours out of necessity and not savagery, he dragged himself to where Judy was wrestling with Lionheart's massive paw. The irrigation pipe was inches away. She was putting up a heroic fight, but his arm was longer than she was tall. So Nick threw himself on Lionheart's paw, and together they shoved it against the pipe. In one swift movement Judy grabbed the free end of the cuffs and snapped them around the pipe with a small _clink_.

"Everyone, off!" Judy commanded.

The bunnies obeyed instantly, springing off of Lionheart and creating a wide berth around him. Lionheart roared and snarled, his claws tearing through the dirt as he yanked against the paw cuffs, but he was trapped. Grabbing Grizzoli's taser from his pocket, Nick discharged it into Lionheart's neck. Lionheart let out a hair-raising shriek and stiffened, his fangs clattering, before slumping to the ground and panting.

Judy tucked herself under Nick's arm and half walked, half dragged him a safe distance away. They collapsed the ground. Nick rolled onto his back, his chest feeling as though it were on fire. Judy was on him in an instant. Her worried eyes filled his vision as she hovered over him.

"Nick, _Nick_," she breathed, still panting. Despite everything, her voice was steady. She flicked aside his tie and brushed away the tattered ruins of his dress shirt so his chest was exposed. "Don't worry, you're going to be okay…" She stroked his muzzle. "_I've got you._"

Nick managed a grin. "Oh, I know. I trust you." His teeth chattered as he said it. He realized he was trembling violently.

"Don't you go into shock on me, fox."

"Wouldn't dream of it, rabbit."

There were lots of shouting from the other bunnies, checking in with loved ones and requests for first aid kits. A few of Judy's siblings were at their side now, asking how they could help. Judy was shouting instructions at them, telling them to check on the others, to check on Fangmeyer. Nick stared at her.

"Carrots, _you're _bleeding – "

"Hush." Judy reached down and tore a large piece off of her already torn dress. He hissed when she pressed it firmly against his wound, staunching the blood. "Nick, you were _so brave_."

Nick snorted. "Says the bunny who just tackled a savage lion."

He wasn't sure whether it was the blood loss or the exhilaration of having survived a lion going savage on him, but Nick found himself grinning rather sappily at her. The lights from the ferris wheel backlit her and formed a corona of light around her head. Despite the blood and mud and bruises, she looked practically angelic. Paw still shaking slightly, he reached up and stroked her uninjured ear.

She glanced up from her ministrations and caught his dopey, lovestruck eyes. Her face immediately softened. Radiated warmth.

"You know, you really talked up this Carrot Days whatsit and I gotta say, not impressed," he drawled.

"Carrot Days Festival. And I promise you it isn't always like this."

"You mean I shouldn't always expect to get mauled and bleed out in front of your entire family?"

Judy huffed. "Don't be so dramatic, you are not bleeding out."

"Don't minimize my pain and suffering."

She gave him a look. "I thought I told you to hush," Judy whispered. Then she tipped forward and pressed her nose against his for a moment before kissing him once, twice, again and again. If this was his reward for getting attacked by a lion, Nick thought, then it was completely worth it.


End file.
